


How to Rehabilitate your Amnesiac Assassin

by FourTheSecond



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Family, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, M/M, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Is Trying, Team as Family, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, protective winter soldier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:33:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23627746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FourTheSecond/pseuds/FourTheSecond
Summary: Tony has experienced a lot in his life, and he is great at improvising with what life throws his way- but what exactly does one do with an amnesiac assassin that shows up wanting repairs? Especially since they are definitely in need of more than just repairs for a metal arm. How is he supposed to convince a man calling himself the "Asset" that he is a person that deserves more than the life Hydra forced onto him? Well, he'll try anyway, this poor guy really deserves a break.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 89
Kudos: 461
Collections: BL favorites





	1. Chapter 1

Tony stared at his tablet, bored. The entire team of Avengers, except for him, were off in Connecticut investigating a possible Hydra infestation. He was told in no uncertain terms that he would not be going on any missions until his ankle finished healing. He had taken an unfortunate hit on the last mission that knocked him out of the air, and he had landed awkwardly, spraining his ankle. It wasn’t even that bad of a sprain, but try convincing Steve of that. Tony shook his head, refocusing, and contemplated just going to sleep. It was only around eight in the evening, but Tony tried to catch sleep whenever he could. His nightmares prevented it most nights, so he was always at least a little tired. He was so comfortable slouched down on the couch that he may just be able to manage a good nap. However, he was waiting on the computer to finish running the data for SI tech designs that he needed to get to Pepper asap before she came to his tower just to murder him.  
“Jarvis, buddy, what’s the status on the data analysis for the new Starkphone project?” Tony figured he may as well just ask the all-seeing AI that was conveniently installed all throughout the tower instead of getting up to check.  
There was a long pause, and then Jarvis replied calmly, “The analysis is at 42%. However, there seems to be an intruder that just entered the tower.”  
Tony shot up from the couch, alarmed. “Intruder? Jarvis, how did they get in? And do we have visuals on the intruder? Identification?”

  
As he spoke he called his reserve suit from the lab and spared a moment to lament the fact that his main one was undergoing repairs at the moment.  
“The intruder has been identified as James Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier”, Jarvis said, and if a computer could sound like it had a raised eyebrow, then Jarvis would right now.  
Tony paused, mind flying through all the reasons the Winter Soldier may be in his house. Less than a month ago, the man had fought Steve on the helecarrier, rescued Steve from the water, and then run off. Ever since then Steve had been going crazy looking for the guy, and it was strange that he had apparently just showed up at Tony’s tower.  
“Ah, does he look like he’s in a ‘I just came to talk’ mood, or a ‘I’ve come to murder you’ mood?” Tony asked cautiously.  
“Sir, he appears to be injured, his vitals do not seem to suggest aggression, and he is unarmed. However, he is making his way toward your location. Would you like me to initiate intruder defense protocols?” Jarvis asked.

  
Unarmed and injured? Huh. Well, Steve would kill him if he let something happen to his precious Bucky, and he actually had quite a lot of sympathy for the man himself after he had read some of his Hydra file. He had barely read a fourth of it, and even that was horrific. He had needed to stop reading after he threw up what little he had eaten that day because of the contents of the file. He shifted anxiously, he wanted to help Barnes if that was what he was here for, but he was extremely dangerous, and had up until very recently been killing people for Hydra.  
“Where is he now, and what is he doing?” Tony questioned, and Jarvis immediately updated him.  
“He is taking the stairs up towards this floor. I estimate it will take him six minutes to reach this floor at the pace he is going.”  
Well, at least Barnes wasn’t snooping around his company floors that contained sensitive information. He wasn't sure coming straight to Tony’s location was actually a good thing however. It depended on what the man wanted. If he wasn't here with bad intentions, then he should at least hear the man out. Tony was afraid greeting the man with the full armor may seem aggressive though, and he didn't want to provoke a fight if that isn’t what he came here for. His suit hadn’t arrived yet, but he was running out of time to make a decision as Barnes got closer to his floor.  
“No, Jarvis, hold off on that for now. I’m going to see if we can’t talk this out. Unlock the door to this floor from the stairwell and set the suit on standby outside my window when it gets here. It will only take a couple seconds to get it to me if he attacks that way,” Tony decided on the spot.  
“Yes Sir,” Jarvis responded, managing to sound disapproving. It may not be his brightest idea not wear the suit to confront Barnes, but whatever. He was known for making impulsive decisions anyway, so what was one more?

As he anxiously waited for Barnes to appear, it occurred to him that it was strange that Jarvis had been able to catch the Winter Soldier breaking into his building. He was supposed to be some super-assassin, right? His security was excellent, but still, the guy had a legendary reputation. Shouldn't he be able to get in unnoticed?  
“How did you catch him breaking in, J?” he inquired.  
“He does not actually seem very concerned with stealth sir, he has made no attempt to conceal his presence since he entered the tower,” Jarvis paused a moment, then continued with, “he has reached this floor.”  
Tony blinked, nervous at the proximity, but he figured it was a good sign that Barnes’ intentions weren’t harmful if he didn't bother to conceal his presence. He stood near the window so the suit could reach him if he needed it, and listened carefully for sounds of the mans approach. He didn't actually manage to hear him before he saw him though, and what a sight it was. The assassin ghosted silently into the room, pausing at the threshold as he turned intense blue eyes on Tony. He was looking a little worse for wear, with his black leather Winter Soldier uniform covered in dirt and blood. His face mask was missing, and his hair hung limply against his head and in his face. His metal arm lay at an awkward angle against his side, and his face was completely blank; Tony couldn't tell what he was thinking at all. Still, he somehow managed to be extremely good looking even with the ‘I haven’t showered or slept in days and just got out of a fight for my life’ look he was sporting. Tony waited for him to say something, but after an extremely nerve-wracking couple of minutes where the man just stood there stonily and stared silently at Tony, he figured it wasn't going to happen. Alright, that was fine, he wasn't a talker apparently, but Tony was, especially when he was nervous. He could get the ball rolling.

  
“Hi, the Winter Soldier, right? Or do you prefer Barnes? Or James? Bucky maybe?” Tony babbled nervously.  
The man stared at him another long moment, then finally spoke, “The Asset has been called the Winter Soldier.”  
Tony paused, not sure what to do with that response. The Asset? Is that what they called him at Hydra? The thought sent a flash of anger and alarm through him. Anger, because Hydra was a flaming bag of dicks, and alarm, because he was pretty sure it wasn't a good sign that the man was referring to himself that way and not acknowledging his former identity. Hadn’t Steve said he had remembered him on the helecarrier or something? Why did the man not seem to recognize his name at all then?  
“Ah, well I’m Tony Stark. Welcome to my tower,” he introduced grandly, camouflaging his nerves with confidence and a wide smile, “what brings you here?”  
“The Asset requires maintenance,” he intoned without changing expressions at all. It was pretty unnerving, but so far he hadn’t tried to get closer or attack or anything.  
“Maintenance? You mean your arm? Is it busted? I can help if it is,” Tony offered uncertainly. He wasn’t sure why the former Hydra assassin would come to him for repairs or whatever, but he’d love to take a look at that metal arm.

A stray thought that he should probably contact Steve ran though his mind, but he dismissed it for now. He had no real idea what was happening, and he didn't want to upset Barnes by contacting anyone.  
“The arm is nonfunctional,” the Asset confirmed, “repairs required.” He said this as he continued to stare blankly at Tony. Tony really wanted to know why on earth he had come to him for this. He slowly edged closer, and Barnes’ intense eyes followed him like a hawk.  
“Right, sure, I can take a look at that for you. Just, uh, why did you come here?” Tony questioned slowly, stopping a few feet away. The intimidating figure of the man seemed even larger up close.  
“Tony Stark is the best engineer in the country, and he is not affiliated with Hydra. He is capable of fixing the arm,” the assassin stated. Tony blinked, surprised. Well, that was a good sign, right? Even if the dude was a few marbles short, he at least looked for someone not related to Hydra, so he probably wasn't still completely brainwashed into doing their bidding?  
Tony nodded quickly, “True on all counts! I am absolutely the best engineer, not just in the country, but probably everywhere! Also, I hate Hydra, and can certainly fix the arm, or make an even better one if that one can’t be fixed.” Bold claims, but Tony had complete confidence in his ability to figure the arm out. Tony watched as Barnes seemed to relax a fraction, but he wasn't sure if it was his confidence that he could fix him, or his reassurance that he was in no way involved with Hydra that did the trick. Tony took another small step forward and held a hand out slightly, still far enough away not to be in Barnes’ personal space, but close enough that he’d be able to touch the arm if Barnes extended it.  
“Can I see the arm?” he questioned, still holding his hand out slightly in invitation. The assassin hesitated, and Tony didn't move, patiently waiting and hoping not to spook him. Eventually the man extended the metal appendage until it was within Tony’s reach.  
“Okay, I’m just going to check it over and see what the deal with it is, so don’t freak out and kill me for touching you,” Tony said half-jokingly as he gently grabbed the arm and started examining it.

  
“The Asset will not harm the technician,” the assassin solemnly declared. Tony darted a quick glance toward his face and noted that his eyes, while still very focused on him, seemed more relaxed, less wary now. Maybe he had finished evaluating all the ways in which he could kill him and was now confident in his ability to murder Tony before he could attack him? Or maybe he was now convinced Tony was an ally of some sort since he was working on the arm? He had called him the technician after all, and said he wouldn't hurt him. Tony took a few minutes to evaluate the issues with the arm, and took a deep breath.  
“Alright, I’m going to need my tools and my lab, this isn’t an easy fix,” he informed the man. He got a nod and a curt, “understood” from the man.  
Tony hesitated and then said, “Will you be sticking around for a while? I will need time to work on the arm. You can stay here if you want, I have plenty of rooms in the tower.” Tony paused to gauge Barnes’ reaction, which was another blank stare.  
“I have a first aid kit you can borrow too, if that blood is yours,” he continued, looking at the disaster of a uniform Barnes was wearing.  
“And, a shower, even if it isn’t your blood. Probably have a washing machine somewhere around here too,” he offered.  
Barnes stared at him for another long moment with something like bewilderment before stating softly, “the Asset will stay with the technician.” Tony grinned, immediately happy that he wouldn't have to tell Cap that he had lost his best friend after he had him in his sights.

  
“Great! Why don’t I show you a room, and you can go ahead with the shower? I can give you some of Steve’s clothes to change into,” Tony tried. He got a tiny nod in response, but there was no reaction to Steve’s name that Tony could see. He could worry about that later, he decided, for now he just needed to get the handsome assassin settled so he could go call the team and update them on their new guest. He led him down the hall to an empty guest room and opened the door. It was the room Rhodey sometimes used when he was in town, so it was fully furnished, clean, and ready to be used.  
“You can use this room, and anything in it. The bathroom is through the door there, and I’ll bring some clothes up shortly. Oh, are you hungry? Ah, what am I saying, you’re a super soldier, you guys are always hungry! I’ll bring some food too, do you like sandwiches? I make great sandwiches. I’ll bring some with me when I bring the clothes. Oh, before I forget, the tower has an IA built into it called Jarvis, so please don't freak out when he talks. You can ask Jarvis for anything you need or if you have questions while you are here,” Tony rambled, speaking quickly, “say hi to our guest, J”.  
“Good evening, I am Jarvis, welcome to the tower. I would be happy to help if you need anything,” Jarvis introduced. Tony grinned proudly and looked at Barnes to check his reaction. The assassin looked a little overwhelmed, or as overwhelmed as a person totally not emoting could look anyway. Tony had that effect on people, good to know it worked on brainwashed ex-Hydra assassins too.  
“Right, how do you want to be addressed? I am definitely not calling you Asset, so pick something else,” Tony said. He’d been calling the man Barnes in his head, but he hadn’t seemed like he recognized it when he said it earlier, and he and J needed something to call him out loud. The man scrunched his brow for a second, looking confused.  
“But I am the Asset,” he stated. Tony stifled a smile, the man was kind of cute when he didn't look all scary and murdery.  
“You are a person, not an Asset. So, I’m not calling you that, and Winter Soldier is kind of a mouthful. How about Winter for short, can I call you that?” tried Tony.  
He looked a little confused still, but agreed with a softly spoken, “acceptable”.  
“Right then,” Tony clapped his hands once, “that’s settled. Winter, you can take your shower, and I’ll be back with the food and clothes soon. See ya!” Tony gave one last wave and bolted back toward the kitchen, leaving Winter standing by the bedroom door. He had sandwiches to fix, and a very important call to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never written a story before, but I have read so many over the years that I figure I can give it a shot since I have time because of Corona now... Anyway, feedback is welcome since I have no idea what i'm doing! Thanks everyone!


	2. Chapter 2

Tony stared wide eyed at the ceiling as the call Jarvis placed connected.

“Tony? Hello?” Steve’s voice echoed in the dead silent room, “Is something wrong? You weren’t supposed to check in until tomorrow.”

“To be completely honest, with how much the universe loves messing with me, I was half expecting you to have gone into emergency radio silence lockdown or something where I couldn't contact you,” Tony admitted sheepishly, “now that you actually answered I feel like I’m not prepared for this conversation.” There was a bewildered silence as Steve seemed to process his less than reassuring words.

“Tony, what on earth are you talking about? Why would we be on radio sil- no never mind, just explain please, I can feel my blood pressure rising as we speak,” Steve said tiredly.

Tony winced, feeling bad for calling with such heavy news when he knew the team was in the middle of a long mission. This would probably go over better if Steve had actually slept sometime in the past twenty-four hours. 

“Like you can actually get high blood pressure,” Tony teased the super soldier, trying to lighten the mood. “It isn’t bad news anyway, so don’t worry, it’s just, uh, unexpected?”

“If anyone could manage to give a super soldier high blood pressure it would be you Tony,” Steve said dryly, “now please just say whatever you are trying to say.”

“Okay,” Tony took a bracing breath, “Your best friend turned Hydra assassin is at my tower.” After a moment, he hurriedly tacked on, “but not in a murdery I came to assassinate you way, and I didn't capture him either. He came in on his own, he wanted me to fix his arm.” There was a stilted silence from Steve, then an urgent, “Bucky is there? Right now? Can you keep him there? I’m on my way, we are going to leave right now.” 

There were some suspicious thumps in the background, and what sounded like Clint’s muffled groaning, followed closely by Natasha’s soft murmur. He could only imagine they weren’t pleased to be abandoning the mission part-way through. Steve finished his instructions to the team in the background quickly before he was back to interrogating Tony.

“You said he wanted you to fix his arm? Is he hurt? Does he look like he has been eating enough? Did he know who he was? Did he ask for me?”

“Whoa, whoa! Slow down Cap,” he cut off Steve’s rapid rush of questions. “The dude isn’t much of a talker, okay? I didn’t get much from him. I can tell you he didn’t seem to react to his name, or yours though. He called himself the Asset.” Tony said slowly, trying to soften the blow. “And as for whether he is hurt, well, someone sure is, but I don’t know if the blood was his or not. Jarvis did say something about an injury though, I think.”

“Asset,” Steve repeated, sounding wounded, “but he knew me...” Steve seemed to collect himself before speaking again, “Never mind that, he’s injured? Do you think he will let you check him and treat him?”

Steve sounded hopeful that he would, but Tony wasn’t sure. 

“I mean, maybe? He has been pretty chill so far, but I don’t want to push him or trigger anything. I’ll ask at least. I should probably go though, I’m supposed to be making sandwiches,” he said as he laughed, “Man, I have no idea what I am doing. Clearly. Please come back very soon.”

“We are going as fast as we can, it won’t be long,” Steve promised. “Please make sure he stays until we get there. And Tony? Thank you.” 

Tony grinned as Jarvis disconnected the call on his signal, he was glad he could do this for Cap; reunite him with his old best buddy. Maybe now Cap would stop staring morosely into the distance whenever he had any free time whatsoever. 

He wasn’t really dealing with the total loss of everything he had known and waking up so many years later very well. Maybe a familiar face would help. Problems for another time though, first he needed to make sandwiches. 

He didn’t know what Winter liked, so he just got out all of his lunch meats and cheeses and made a little bit of everything. As he went and gathered some of Steve’s spare clothes he checked on the status of his guest.

“J, is Winter still in the shower?” Tony asked. It belatedly occurred to him that he hadn’t asked Winter if he knew how to shower. It had been a while since the helecarrier, so surely he had since then, right? Then again, hadn’t he noticed Winter looked like he needed a shower pretty bad? His musings were thankfully cut short by Jarvis’ timely reply.

“He has finished showering, sir.” Great! That was one potentially extremely awkward obstacle out of the way. He made his way quickly back toward Winter’s guest room. He probably needed to figure out just how much autonomy and self-awareness Winter currently possessed in order to know how to take care of him. 

How much help did he need for regular every day stuff like showering, brushing teeth, eating, and using the bathroom? And where was the line between being overbearing and controlling to a seventy-year POW who had been brainwashed with all his choices taken from him, and helpful guidance for a guy who possibly hadn’t been expected to know how to do anything on his own? 

Tony shook the thoughts away, this was all useless speculation, he wouldn't know the exact circumstances until he interacted with Winter. He should probably call a serious trauma therapist or something if Winter was going to be staying. Tony certainly wasn’t the poster boy for mental health and dealing with trauma well, so he was extremely unqualified to be trying to help Winter. 

That seemed a little premature though, considering he didn’t know if Winter would be staying past the couple days the arm would take, and the team wasn’t even back yet. He shoved the part of his mind that was already running personalized floor designs and long-term care plans away as he came up on Winter’s door. Showtime. Dredging up a soothing expression that was hopefully a little less manic than his nervous grins and less fake than his press smiles, he knocked on the door. 

“Winter? Are you finished? I bring clothes and sandwiches!” Hmm, still a little hyper sounding from nerves that just wouldn’t settle. As the door started to open, he redoubled his efforts to appear calm and soothing instead of crazed. 

It must not be too bad an effort, because Winter didn’t immediately slam the door or run away once he saw him. Instead, he opened the door and then stepped back to give Tony space to enter. It was at that point that Tony realized that Winter was completely naked. Tony shot his eyes up to Winter’s face and glued them there, taking in his neutral expression. ‘Duh,’ Tony scolded himself internally, ‘you were bringing his change of clothes and I doubt Hydra prioritized modesty or wearing towels, what did you expect?’ 

On the bright side, his unclothed state made it extremely easy to spot where he was wounded. He had happened to see the red bright burst of a bloody cut on the man’s stomach before his eyes forcefully redirected back to his face. Checking to make sure his own expression didn’t distort too obviously, he held out the clothes for Winter to take. Tony waited a few seconds, but Winter made no move to take the clothes from him. 

“Here, these are for you to wear,” he prompted. “Although, before you put the shirt on, maybe I could take a look at your cut? It seems pretty bad.” After Tony spoke, Winter took the clothes from him and put on everything but the shirt, looking unbothered and a shade more relaxed after his shower. He was still watchful and alert, but there seemed to be a little more curiosity and a little less suspicion in that steady gaze than before.

“The Asset is healing within normal parameters,” he reported dispassionately. Tony frowned at that. If that cut was already healing and it was still this bad, then it must have been pretty nasty when he first got it. Also, was Winter saying he didn’t need help or medical assistance? Or was he just giving a status report or something, but would accept help? Tony couldn’t tell whether he wanted help or not. He had left the shirt off as requested, but was that just because Tony wanted him to? Well, Pepper was always griping that he needed to be better with communicating with others. Tony vowed that he would communicate the crap out of Winter. Because he had no idea what else to do with the guy without grossly violating his rights. He just needed to be as direct as possible and always ask, right?

“Do you want me to call a doctor for that?” Tony asked. Winter immediately stiffened, and his eyes flashed with something before his face drained to perfect blankness once more, losing all the small signs of life that had been peeking out. “The asset does not require a doctor,” he said in perfect monotone. Right. Well that went horribly. So much for communication. Tony rubbed his face in frustration before putting his most calming expression back on. 

“Okay, no doctor, I promise. I just meant, do you need any help with that? I think you need stitches. I have a first aid kit and can do it myself, no doctors necessary.” He should have figured that doctors would be a sensitive subject after his time with Hydra. Damn it, he had ruined every bit of progress he had made with that slip. 

Winter lowered his gaze submissively. “The Asset will comply.” Tony wanted to curse, loudly. There was a lot here to unpack there. Maybe he should start by making it really clear that the was in no way in charge of the man? That Winter could choose whatever he wanted?

“Hey, no Asset, remember? Winter. You are Winter, not Asset. Unless you want to choose something else later,” he tacked on. He had just kind of thrown the nickname Winter at him. “You don’t need to comply okay? This isn’t Hydra, and I have no control over you. You can decide whatever you want, alright? You won’t be, uh, punished or anything for not doing what I want.” Tony tried not to think about some of the things he read in the files as he spoke. “You are safe here.” 

Winter raised his eyes to connect with Tony’s, and he saw hints of confusion and hesitation there. It made Tony’s heart ache in remembrance of returning from Afghanistan and not being able to trust in that statement, to truly believe he was safe no matter how many times people told him. And then Stane had happened, and yeah, Tony pretty much never felt completely safe anymore. Tony snapped his attention back to Winter when the man spoke hesitantly.

“The As- Winter,” he switched from Asset to Winter mid-word then continued after a brief pause “has designated Tony Stark as present handler. The handler will be obeyed.” Tony stared, eyes wide. What? When did this happen? Why? What was he supposed to do with this? He wanted Cap to walk in right now so he could throw this problem at him and run. Also, he hadn’t meant that Winter was the man’s new code name or something, it sounded weird said in the third person like that. What the hell was this situation. He was too tired for this.

“That…I’m not your handler okay? You don’t need a handler,” he offered tentatively, hoping the man would see he no longer needed to be told what to do. Winter’s jaw firmed and his shoulders set. Oh boy.

“Tony Stark is the designated handler,” he declared in a tone that promised violence to anyone who disagreed, paired with an intimidating glare. Tony gaped in disbelief. Why did it feel like he was the one being threatened into compliance?! Thankfully, Jarvis chose that moment to interrupt.

“Sir, Mr. Winter appears to be losing an alarming amount of blood.” Tony tore his gaze away from Winter’s and back to the gash on his stomach, which had been steadily dripping blood the whole time. Right, whatever, he needed to prioritize. One thing at a time, he could argue about the whole ‘handler’ thing later. Preferably when Capsicle was there to protect him from Winter’s admittedly very frightening glare. 

Tony sighed and figured he could at least use his handler status for basic healthcare.

“The first aid kit is in the bathroom, I’m going to grab it and then fix up your cut, okay? Nod once for permission and understanding, or a headshake for ‘I’ll murder you if you touch me’,” Tony said, then waited to see which Winter would do. Winter nodded with a straight face, but Tony though he saw an almost amused glint in his eye. Great. Good to know there was a personality in there after all. Tony slunk towards the bathroom to grab the first aid kit; he had a super soldier to patch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the interest in the story, it is very encouraging to a first time writer! Hope you guys like the chapter, and as always, feedback or constructive criticism is welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

When Tony returned with the first aid kit, Winter was standing exactly where he had left him. It occurred to him that stitching him up in the guest room wasn’t the cleanest or most sanitary option. Maybe he should take Winter to his lab, or to the medical wing set aside for when the Avengers got injured? But he had already established that doctors were a no-go, and a hospital type setting seemed like it may be triggering for the same reasons doctors were.

He also wasn’t sure how Winter would react to his lab. Hydra’s files had quite a lot to say about experiments and maintenance on the arm done in labs. Good grief, was there anything Hydra hadn’t ruined for the guy? The man had the knock-off serum anyway, so it wasn’t likely he would get an infection from a non-sterile environment. Plus, he figured, eyeing the blood-soaked floor under where the man was still patiently standing, it wasn’t like the carpet wasn’t already absolutely ruined in here, what was a little more? He would just move the man into a different room once they were done here and hope Rhodey-bear didn’t visit until he could get new carpet. Or maybe Nat would have good tips on getting large amounts of blood out of stuff? She was a spy and former assassin after all.

“Why don’t you take a seat,” he said gesturing to the couch in the corner of the large room. He followed Winter over to the sofa, snagging the desk chair and dragging it with him. After Winter planted himself on the edge of the couch, he settled in the desk chair in front of the man where he could easily reach his stomach. The ex-assassin looked a little stiff now, and Tony wished he knew more about suturing wounds than what he had taught himself for when he had minor wounds he didn’t want to bother the medical staff with. He had his own hang-ups about doctors and medical procedures after Afghanistan, and he tended to avoid Medical unless he was forced to go.

“This isn’t going to be the neatest stitching you’ve ever had done,” Tony warned the tense man, “but I can close this up at least, and your healing should deal with anything else.” He hoped so anyway. He didn’t actually know how different Steve’s serum was to Winter’s. The lack of scars on the soldier’s visible skin hinted toward pretty advanced healing though; he doubted the man hadn’t been injured at all with his risky activities during his Hydra years. The only scars that he could see were all centered on the shoulder where metal met skin. He wondered why the scars there didn’t heal or fade like everywhere else. Something to look into when he was working on the arm, if he had time and the man let him.

Tense eyes tracked Tony’s hands as they got close to the soldier with a syringe of anesthetic for the pain. It wouldn’t put the man to sleep, just numb the area so he could stitch it up. Thank god he had some suited for super soldiers on hand because of Steve. Tony paused before actually touching his impromptu patient. He had gone absolutely still with tensed muscles, and his face was shut down and unreadable.

“Hey, you need to relax a little, okay? Tensing up like that will make stitching harder. This will help with the pain,” he said as he indicated the syringe that Winter was eyeing suspiciously, “it won’t knock you out or do anything else, I promise.”  
Winter seemed to accept that the syringe wasn’t harmful, but furrowed his brow and said with a slight Russian accent, “Pain is of no consequence.”

For a split second Tony admired the faint Russian accent that seemed stronger at some times than others, but then the meaning of the words Winter had spoken actually hit him.  
Horrified, Tony said grimly, “It is! Pain is of consequence. It matters, if it hurts. Maybe it didn’t to the people who had you, before, but it does now.” Tony spoke forcefully while staring into Winter’s eyes, needing to get the point across.

“If you are in pain, you need to tell me, okay?” Winter narrowed his eyes at Tony, searching Tony’s face for something. Tony wasn’t sure what he found there, but after a moment Winter nodded and his body loosened from the tight coil it had been held in.

“Understood,” the man said, his lips twitching with what could be interpreted as an attempt at a smile. Tony numbed him and stitched him up in silence, concentrating on making the stitches as even as possible and ignoring his close proximity to Winter. Since Tony had steady hands that were experienced with delicate projects, they actually turned out pretty well.

“Huh, not too shabby,” he said proudly, covering the finished product with a bandage. He stood up and stretched the kinks out of his back he had gotten from where he had been hunched forward. Winter brushed his fingers over the bandage slowly before putting the shirt Tony brought him on. Tony decided now was a good time to discuss everything since everyone was fully clothed now.

“So, I think we should talk. There are some things I need to know if you are going to be staying here. That’s actually one of the questions, are you going to be staying here long term?” Tony started out with the most important issue first.

“The handler decides where Winter goes.” The man replied easily, not looking as stressed at the appearance of questions as Tony worried he would be. Maybe because he didn’t actually answer anything in any useful way. Tony grimaced, he couldn’t take that awkward third person any more.

“Please, if you are referring to me then call me Tony. And if you are referring to you…well, don’t use third person. I didn’t mean to replace Asset with Winter as a code name or whatever. Just a nickname, like Tony is for Anthony, since you haven’t chosen a name to go by. People don’t use their own nicknames in the third person,” he informed the man, hoping he would actually listen. “You can just say I for yourself, and you if you are talking to me." The Winter Soldier seemed to seriously contemplate this information.

“You want me to speak as a person and not a weapon,” Winter concluded, seeming uncertain. Tony took a deep breath, reminded himself that he could not leave to go murder everyone from Hydra, and nodded seriously with fury simmering underneath his false calm.

“Yes. Because you are a person, and not a weapon.” He had said this before when he refused to call the man the Asset, but Tony knew it took more than someone saying something once to undo years of brainwashing and conditioning.

Winter tilted his head and offered stiltedly, “I think maybe I used to be. A person. Before Hydra. I didn’t always know there was a before Hydra, but since I left them I remembered some things that seemed like memories from the life of a person before…” he trailed off. Tony swallowed thickly, trying to push down the sick feeling in his chest. He couldn’t imagine living with no memories of anything except Hydra, being told he was, and had always been a weapon that existed for their use.

“You are a person. You had a whole life before Hydra took you. You had parents, and a birthday, and” Tony was abruptly interrupted from his shaky reassurance by Winter clutching his head and standing suddenly, towering over Tony’s smaller stature. Winter took a step forward and Tony flinched and stepped back, startled. Had he upset the Winter Soldier, was he going to get violent? He didn't have his suit. Tony cursed himself for pushing, they had been doing really well, why did Tony always say the wrong thing?

Winter’s eyes widened minutely as Tony flinched away, and he immediately dropped back down to the couch and hunched, making himself smaller and lowering his eyes while his expression became perfectly blank again. He looked like he thought Tony was going to hit him or something. Tony cringed, he was glad the man hadn’t gotten violent, but he was sorry that he had been living the kind of life where that was his ingrained reaction, that he expected punishment for upsetting his ‘handler’, which Tony sort of was currently.

Tony took a deep breath, tried to calm his racing heart, and said as gently as possible, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, and you didn’t do anything wrong.” Winter looked back up at Tony, expression easing a little, and there was something that may have been remorse that flashed in his eyes for a second before it was gone, back to being unreadable and dark.

“I scared you,” he said lowly with a more pronounced Russian lilt. “You do not need to be afraid. I would not harm you Tony, I will be good.” Well, he had taken his advice to not speak in the third person and to use his name, so that was progress. Tony wasn’t sure how to take the reassurance that he wouldn’t hurt him and the promise to be good though. Was that something he was saying as an asset to a handler, or did he, as a person, regret frightening Tony? He didn’t want to read too much into it, but he sounded so much more human already when he didn’t speak in the third person.

“Okay,” Tony murmured, “thank you.” He still had a lot of questions, but he was afraid to bring up Hydra and the man’s past as Bucky now, and that ruled out most of them. He had wanted to ask about Steve too, and whether he knew him, but it would probably be better to shelve all that for now until they were calmer. Plus, he still hadn’t gotten a real answer for his first question, which he needed.

“We can talk more later, we don’t need to have this conversation now. I do need to know if you will be staying long term at the tower though, and this time I’d like your answer to be what you want to do, not what I might want,” Tony said, really wishing that the Winter Soldier’s resting face wasn’t blank with a side of murder. It was extremely difficult to guess what he might be thinking or feeling. Was he imagining murdering people or was he thinking that the blue paint looked nice on the wall? No way to tell. Luckily, he spoke when prompted so Tony could get an idea of where the guy was at mentally. If he had been totally silent Tony had no idea what he’d do with him.

“I will stay with you and kill whoever you wish, and you will repair my arm,” Winter said stoically as he nodded, as if that made perfect sense. Tony stumbled from where he’d walked over to get the sandwiches for Winter, shocked. Guess he’d been thinking about murder and not the blue paint after all, Tony thought somewhat hysterically.

“No! No thank you, I don’t need anyone killed, truly,” Tony said quickly. “You can stay here, and I will fix your arm like I promised, but there’s nothing you need to do.” Tony guessed Winter had strange ideas of what constituted appropriate payment for room and board because of Hydra. I mean, to be fair, that is kind of the deal Winter had with Hydra. If by room and board you mean cryogenic chambers, small cells, and electric brain-wipe chairs. And if by deal you mean involuntary actions you can’t opt out of. As usual, Winter’s face and body language were hard to read, but Tony thought he saw a hint of distress in the slight tightening of the shoulders, and the minute crinkle to his brow.

“I have a wide range of skills, even if there is no one you need killed currently,” Winter’s tone was a little agitated, the Russian accent harsher. “I am useful.”  
Feeling like he’d stepped on a conversational landmine, Tony wondered what exactly he said that upset Winter. This definitely counted among the top ten most stressful nights of his life. It might even be winning over that time in Connecticut he and Rhodey swore to pretend never happened.

“I didn’t mean to imply you were only good for killing,” Tony guessed at the problem, hoping to soothe the dark-haired man. Judging by the low, barely audible growl of frustration that emanated from the man’s chest, he hadn’t succeeded. Damn, had he really just heard the Winter Soldier growl? This was inspiring a very situationally inappropriate reaction that was definitely not fear.

“You don’t need to be useful to stay here,” Tony tried again, worried that maybe Winter thought he’d get kicked out if he wasn’t doing something for them. That was definitely not the right answer either. Winter only got more agitated at that. Focus Tony, he berated himself, an upset Winter Soldier is very bad, no matter how hot he is all worked up. And he was pretty worked up by Winter Soldier standards, he was emoting the most that he had seen him so far, though not by much. It was just that his resting murder face now included narrowed eyes and a tensed jaw, along with that low growl again. Alright, Tony really sucked at communication and diplomacy, as Pepper, Rhodey, Steve, and just about any other person who had ever heard of Tony Stark could vouch for. He had no idea what was upsetting the man.

“You are my handler. I am useful to you. You tell me what you want, and I will accomplish it,” the man rasped out. Tony was truly lost. He felt terrible for upsetting the man this much, but he still didn't understand the problem, and this definitely wasn’t the time to argue he wasn’t a handler since the guy was this upset already. It seemed like he wanted to do things? Maybe he needed to feel like he was needed or something? That he was useful?

“You are useful, there are things you can do for me if you want to help out,” Tony gave it one last try before he gave up and just asked the man what was wrong. It seemed like he finally had it right though, the change in the man was immediate. He lost all signs of agitation and looked relieved.

“Yes, I can help you, I do not need to be given to another handler or decommissioned.” Jesus, that was what he was worried about? Tony wondered how many hits his heart could take in one night before it just gave up, he did have a heart condition after all. That was absolutely horrible. Tony didn’t even know how to reassure him without upsetting him since he didn’t like being told he didn’t need a handler.

“I would never…decommission you, or let anyone else kill you under my watch, you know that right?” At the very least, Tony could reassure him of that. The mouth twitch that may or may not be an attempt at a smile made a reappearance on Winter’s face as he answered. “I understand.”

Alright, that was the limit of heavy conversation Tony could stand for one night. He needed to wrap this up. Glancing around, he noticed the smears of blood on the couch that had joined the puddle of blood on the floor.

“I know I said you could stay in this room, but it isn’t really habitable now, with all the blood,” Tony said with an amused snort. “Why don't you eat those sandwiches while I go sort out a new room. There are bottles of water in the minifridge there too. Just ask Jarvis if you need something.” After getting a nod of acceptance from Winter, he left to roam the tower and think about potential living quarters for the man.

The tower was separated into business floors for the company, and personal/ Avengers floors. He obviously would not be putting the newly arrived ex-assassin anywhere near civilians, which left the Avengers floors. Many of the Avengers floors had no living quarters and were functional spaces such as training rooms, labs, exercise rooms, and so on. There were some guest rooms on the lowest Avengers floor bordering the business floors, but Tony lived in the Penthouse at the top of the tower, and he wasn’t comfortable having the unstable ex-Hydra assassin so far from him and so close to civilians.

Honestly, if Tony had any sense he would be putting him in the Hulk containment room, but that felt far too similar to a cell, and it didn't have a bed anyways. He couldn't imagine being locked in a fancy cell would do a traumatized man who had been held captive for so long any good. Tony mused that for all the things he had put in the tower, and all the potential situations he had prepared for, this really wasn’t one of them.

He couldn’t stick the man in any of the Avengers’ personal rooms; though Rogers probably wouldn’t mind sharing his space, Winter likely would. Unless he suddenly remembered being best buddies with Cap, he probably wouldn’t appreciate having the man in his space all day every day. That ruled out every single available room…except for the spare room on Tony’s floor.

It was a holdover from when he and Pepper had still been dating, and she had sometimes needed space from him. It was still fully furnished and livable. It was just that he didn’t really want the guy so close to where he sleeps and in his space. Tony put a lot of effort into not seeming like a wreck of a human being in public and with the team. Tony needed to be able to relax and deal with his many, many issues in peace and relative privacy. He didn't have that many safe spaces that were just his to begin with, so he was reluctant to give one up. But Tony would never forgive himself if he put the Winter Soldier somewhere he wasn’t able to keep a close eye on him and he hurt someone, just so he didn’t have to share his floor. He was tired of making the kind of mistakes that hurt others. He had enough guilt already. Oh well, there was always his lab, he could retreat down there whenever he needed to. He already slept down there on the couch half the time anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might throw in some of the Winter Soldier's point of view next chapter, is that something you would be interested in?


	4. Chapter 4

Tony glanced through the spare room on his floor to make sure it was ready to be used, and then put some of Steve’s scavenged clothes in the drawers. Tony hoped he wasn’t a closet kind of guy, because there was no way he was hanging up these shirts. He barely hung up his own clothes. It wasn’t like the guy had suits to wrinkle anyway. Though, speaking of not having clothes…  
“Hey J, order some clothes for our newest resident. Just estimate size based on what dimensions you can get from cameras, he probably wouldn’t appreciate being scanned in the name of tailored clothing right now.” Tony instructed.

“Of course, Sir. And I don't need a scan to get the size perfect,” JARVIS answered, sounding mockingly offended.

“Yes, yes, how could I doubt you, you obviously know everything,” Tony snarked back fondly. He didn’t know what he would do without JARVIS. 

Tony judged the room as good as it was going to get and headed back toward Winter. He definitely needed to get some basic answers before Steve came back and ambushed them in the name of friendship. Tony liked the man, he did, but he could be a little overwhelming. Winter definitely did not need to be overwhelmed right now, so it was up to him. He and Steve had come a long way from their initial distrust and constant clashing. It had taken some time living in close proximity after the events of New York for them to really hit their stride as friends. It was a good thing Fury had wanted all the Avengers to live together at the tower and present a united front to the public. If he and Steve had gone separate ways after the battle, he was pretty sure they would still be right where they had started. As it was, they did live together, and as time went on and Steve had realized the files and public persona of Tony weren’t exactly gospel truth, and as Tony saw more of the man behind the Captain America persona appear as Steve relaxed in this new time, they had found that they got along surprisingly well. 

“J, what’s the ETA on the team?” Tony needed to know how much time he had before they came busting in.

“The location of the quinjet’s GPS suggests the team will arrive in approximately two hours if there are no unexpected difficulties. Perhaps one hour and forty minutes if Hawkeye pilots,” JARVIS reported dryly. Tony grimaced, God help them if Steve was desperate enough to let Clint pilot. 

Tony stepped off the elevator and walked quickly toward the door of the room Winter was in. He wondered if Winter’s hearing was good enough to hear him approaching. He really knew less than nothing about the knock-off serum, and judging by Winter’s past with experiments, he probably wouldn’t be getting to do tests on it anytime soon. Tony knocked gently and waited, shrugging the disappointment off his face. It took only a moment for the door to open to reveal Winter. 

He had been stressed and trying not to look too hard before, but the guy looked a hundred times better than he had when he first arrived. He was clean for one, and his hair was drying into slight messy waves that were a pretty good look on him. He was still kind of gaunt looking though, like he hadn’t been eating enough. Winter stepped back once again to let him in, but Tony stepped back instead, gesturing to the hallway.

“Hey Winter, we can leave this room behind. I’ll have someone pick up the clothes you came in and get them washed and returned to you soon. Did you get enough to eat? I have your new room ready, so we can either head there or to the kitchen, if you are still hungry,” Tony offered. The soldier obediently left the room and followed Tony into the hall.

“I have just eaten. I will not require sustenance for two or three days depending on how much energy I will be expending,” Winter said nonchalantly, as if that wasn’t devastating for Tony to hear. Tony knew how much more Steve had to eat because of his super soldier metabolism, and Winter’s was likely similar based on the enhanced healing. For Hydra to feed him so little…it was almost starving him. Winter’s ever watchful eyes caught Tony’s upset reaction to his words his brow lowered slightly. 

“I can go longer than that if it is needed,” Winter seemed to try to reassure Tony. He stared incredulously, did Winter think he was upset because he didn’t want to feed him that often or something? Deep breaths, deep breaths…Tony took a moment and then smoothed out his expression.

“I am really rich. Like a billionaire, rich. Did you know that?” Tony asked, seeming somewhat off topic. Winter didn’t even blink at the random non-sequitur, he just answered with a brisk nod.

“Yes, it came up in my research and it was in your Hydra file,” Winter clarified. Tony mentally noted the fact he had a Hydra file and decided to keep it in mind for later questioning.

“Then you should know that I can afford as much food as you could ever want to eat, and it won’t make even a tiny dent, not even if you ate every second of every day. So please, eat at least three regular meals a day, eating so little as an enhanced human can’t be good for you,” Tony coaxed. They were still just standing in the hallway in front of the doorway to the old room, so Tony started walking and motioned for Winter to join him, adding “c’mon, let’s head to the kitchen and see what we can scrounge up.” Winter immediately followed him, but it took a couple minutes of awkward silence as they walked to respond to what Tony said.

“It is your wish that I eat more.” Winter not quite asked. Tony nodded anyway, because it had sort of sounded like a question even as a statement. 

“I mean, I won’t force you, but I want you to know that the food is always available and that you can always eat it. And, you know, make sure you know that it’s better for your body to eat more,” Tony answered. Winter didn’t say anything else as they walked, just followed behind Tony looking pensive. As they reached the communal kitchen Winter did an efficient scan of the room, tagging entry and exit points, and who knows what else. Nat and Clint did that too sometimes, but he had never asked what exactly they were looking for or at. Being in the kitchen again reminded Tony’s body that it hadn’t eaten and that it was actually very hungry. There was a low rumble as Tony’s stomach protested, and Tony laughed at himself.

“Looks like I need to eat more, too. I’m going to make something; would you like some?” Tony asked. Winter hesitated only a moment, then nodded firmly. Deciding easier was better since he wasn’t much of a cook, he settled on making a pre-prepared casserole that just needed to be put in the oven. Clint was such a mother hen. He had left a bunch of easy to make meals in the fridge for while they were gone, loudly proclaiming he was saving Tony’s life because he wouldn’t eat while they were gone if he had to cook. Tony had just rolled his eyes at the time, he wasn’t an actual child, but in truth he did appreciate it. The team felt more like a family now, and he craved it, the attention and affection. 

As Tony set the oven to preheat, he made some coffee since this would be a long night. Winter shook his head at his offer of some, so Tony herded him to the kitchen table for another round of questioning while they waited. After they had sat down, Tony tried to judge whether Winter was calm enough now to talk about Hydra and his past. Tony…stared for a while then gave up, because resting murder face told him nothing. He’d just go for it and stop if necessary. Tony pulled out his phone and set the suit to wait outside the kitchen in case he needed it. He had learned his lesson earlier when he’d been afraid Winter was getting violent, and he’d had it nowhere near. Just because he’d been wrong about Winter getting violent that time didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen, and no matter what most people would say, Tony did learn from mistakes. 

“So, can you tell me where you’ve been since the helecarrier incident, and what you’ve been doing?” There, starting off simple. Winter’s blue eyes glanced away nervously before refocusing on Tony.

“I was staying on the move, evading Hydra,” he said slowly. Tony nodded encouragingly, and Winter continued. “I was successfully avoiding them, or killing them if they did show up, but then in the last fight my arm malfunctioned. The fight became difficult. I was almost reacquired.” He finished grimly, “I came straight here after that.” Tony wished he could wrap the man up in warm blankets and cuddle him, because he looked like he needed it. 

“You did the right thing coming here. The Avengers can protect you from Hydra. You won’t be captured again, and Captain America would kill anyone who tried to take you.” He watched Winter’s face closely as he spoke, and he did seem somewhat reassured by that, but he couldn’t tell if he recognized his mention of Steve. Forget it, he was just going to ask outright.

“Do you remember Captain America? His name is Steve Rogers. He is the man you fought and pulled out of the river. Does that mean anything to you?” he asked. Winter’s brow furrowed slightly, and he nodded, then shook his head. Huh, not a confusing answer at all. Luckily, Winter explained.

“I thought I recognized him, but thinking about him causes strange malfunctions to my operation. I want to be good for you, so I won’t think of him,” he said with the utmost seriousness. Well, that was heartbreaking. Again. This man needed to come with a warning label. ‘Winter Soldier- caution, he will break your heart into itty bitty sad pieces’.

“Winter, you don’t need to avoid thinking about him. Steve used to be your best friend a long time ago, and the malfunctions you mentioned…well, it was probably memories or feelings breaking through your programming or something. That’s a good thing, I don’t need you to stick to operating like you used to. You’re a person remember? You can still be useful as a person with all of your memories,” he added preemptively. Winter scowled a little, looking slightly frustrated.

“A person with all their memories. I don’t know if I can be that for you,” he looked like admitting he couldn’t do what Tony wanted him to was a terrible personal failure. Damn it, that wasn’t what Tony had meant by saying that. He had been trying to be reassuring that he didn’t need to avoid remembering, because no matter what he remembered he could still be useful since that seemed to matter to him. However, he had messed that up. 

“That isn’t what I meant Winter, you don’t need to remember everything. I was just saying that it’s okay if you do remember anything,” Tony tried to convince him.

“Normal people have their memories,” Winter said looking disgruntled. “Being a person is difficult.” Tony completely agreed with the assassin, being a person was hard. Or at least, being the type of person he wanted to be now instead of the insensitive douchebag from his younger years was hard. 

“It is, yeah. But the people staying in the tower can help you. Did you know that Steve Rogers lives here? He will do everything in his power to help you. He has been looking for you ever since the incident,” Tony informed Winter. The man leaned back in his seat and slouched a little, dropping the perfect at-attention posture. He looked tired, and unhappy.

“I know. I had to evade him, the bird man, and Natalia as well as Hydra agents. He made being on the run more difficult. I don’t really remember being his friend. I am not whoever his friend was anymore,” he said grumpily, looking like he’d be more likely to inflict violence upon Steve for hindering his time on the run than to hug him in joy of reunion. Tony snorted, he felt bad for Steve, but he had told him that trying to hunt the guy down wouldn’t score him any points with the paranoid amnesiac. 

“Look, I get that, but he isn’t going to care. You were his best friend and he thought you were dead. He’s thrilled you’re alive, even if he hates what’s happened to get you to this point. I think no matter how you are now he is still going to want to be your friend,” Tony gave his opinion. The oven beeped, indicating it was finished preheating. Tony went and threw the casserole in after setting the timer. Winter watched the whole process curiously, apparently not dwelling on the Steve dilemma. It reminded Tony that he needed to check how much Winter knew about living day to day.

“You knew how to shower,” he said as his brain to mouth filter abandoned him. Damn, he hadn’t meant to just say it like that. He had been thinking of how to tactfully question him on the matter, not just throw it out there. What if Winter was offended? He turned to stare at Winter, even though gauging reactions from his facial expressions was difficult, and he was half sure he was projecting when he did think he could tell something from his face. It was the usual resting murder face, but his voice was silky and relaxed when he answered, the Russian accent only lightly present.

“Yes, I did.” Tony nodded, and continued the line of questioning since he’d already started.

“How did you know? Like, did you do that at Hydra? Showering, brushing your teeth, eating…uh, using the bathroom, that sort of stuff?” Tony cringed in embarrassment, he definitely could have thought the wording of these questions out better. Winter looked unbothered, but Tony had enough embarrassment for them both.

“I am capable of essential bodily functions, but food was a liquid protein and vitamin mix that was given to me as needed. Since I have been on my own I have begun eating solid food, as well as protein shakes. As for basic hygiene, I learned on the run. I am trained in infiltration, and I was not blending in well with the crowd. I could have passed for a homeless man, but I needed to be able to move unnoticed in businesses and upscale areas. Since I was missing vital mission intel in blending in long term, I followed several people and watched their daily routines to see what steps I was missing. There were quite a few, such as teeth brushing, but I believe I have mastered most of them. I broke into the houses of people who were not home to use their showers,” Winter reported.

Well, the man may be lacking in morals and etiquette, but he definitely wasn’t stupid. There seems to have been a lot he didn’t know when he escaped Hydra, but he learned what most of the gaps were and filled them in himself. He should think of Winter like an intelligent adult from another culture then, instead of like a child. Someone that didn’t know the local customs, but that was smart and capable of learning and adapting. Tony realized that Winter seemed to be waiting for a reply to his report. He was back to sitting with a perfect posture, and his face seemed expectant. Did he want praise for a job well done or something? Should he be praising the man for apparently stalking people and breaking into houses? Well, the tradeoff was him not having to show a grown man how to shower, so…

“You did really good Winter,” he said enthusiastically. Winter smiled a little smugly, looking pleased with himself. Tony could only stare. This was the first positive expression he’d seen on the man, and it transformed his face. Winter with a smile was gorgeous. It seemed he’d been on the right track with the praise, too. The timer went off for the casserole, and Tony realized he’d been staring at Winter’s face in a daze longer than he had thought. Winter was mostly back to his usual blankness, but there were lingering traces of satisfaction on his face, and his eyes were soft as he observed Tony gawking at him. Tony flushed and got up to get the casserole.

“Foods done!” he said as he practically ran away.

Winter POV  
Winter watched Tony flee to the kitchen, pleased with himself. He had done well in choosing Tony Stark. He had done extensive research on the man, and had determined that he was an optimal choice for a handler not affiliated with Hydra. The man was skilled enough to maintain his arm, he was kind enough that harsh punishments were unlikely unless deserved, and he had more than enough resources to keep the soldier. In addition, he was part of the Avengers, one of the only groups strong enough to actually fight with Hydra. Overall, the best choice for his current mission to evade his former masters. 

Although, he had a new mission now, as assigned by Tony Stark. To become a person. This was more difficult than most of his previous missions, which had a clearer goal. Of course, because of the blond man from last month (SteveSteveSteve) he had failed his last couple missions. He inwardly scowled in shame. No matter what Tony said about it being okay to think about the blond, and to remember, it clearly caused him to fail missions. He refused to fail any more missions, especially missions given by his new handler. He needed to prove himself valuable and irreplaceable to the man. As the shorter man’s Asset…no, person, as the shorter man’s person, he needed to be the best. The man was a billionaire with many employees. If Winter was no longer an asset, then didn’t that make him the same as all of the other people Tony Stark was in charge of and responsible for? No, he must prove himself a different breed, and stay by the man’s side. 

Although, people didn’t have handlers, did they? If he was supposed to be a person then he shouldn’t either, right? What was the closest equivalent of a handler to an asset for a person? A handler was the closest person to the asset. Someone always present or nearby, that provided the asset with sustenance, shelter, maintenance, correction, and direction. Someone to obey and protect. He didn’t know enough about various human relationships to know which best fit the criteria. Research would be in order. Yes, much intel was needed to successfully complete the order to be a person. He was off to a good start though. Remembering Tony telling him he had done well learning the basics of being a person like hygiene caused happiness to burst through him again. He preened internally. He was great at this person stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun with Winter's POV, and I would love to hear what others thought of it. Feedback and constructive criticism welcome as always :)


	5. Chapter 5

After they had eaten, Tony showed Winter to the top floor.

“This is the top floor of the tower, it is where I live, and for now, where you will live too. You can stay in the spare room here but once you have settled here a bit, you can help me design a floor for you to live long term,” Tony explained as they walked. The assassin was examining the surroundings closely as they passed through, but spared Tony an agreeable nod.

“What do you see when you look around like that?” Tony asked curiously. Winter gave Tony a pitying look.

“I am noting the holes in your security,” he said somewhat judgmentally. “But don’t worry, I will kill anyone who breaks in.” Tony bristled, offended.

“Holes in my security? I have state of the art security here, there aren’t holes!” Tony sputtered. Winter side-eyed him doubtfully but didn’t refute him. Irritated, Tony thought about how they couldn’t all be super assassins who knew everything about breaking in to places. He’d have to ask Winter to thoroughly explain every weakness in his security later so that he could patch it up. It was telling though, that even though Winter was telegraphing ‘you are wrong’ with everything but actual speech, he didn’t contradict him. He’d have to add ‘it’s okay to disagree with me’ to the ever-growing list of things to teach the blue-eyed man. 

Actually, speaking of things to teach the man, he should go over some basic rules of living in the tower before everyone returned. They reached the door to Winter’s living space and Tony gave him a quick tour of the small kitchenette, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and large walk in closet. 

“You can decorate and do whatever you want with this space. Just tell JARVIS if there is anything you want or need. I ordered some clothes to get you by for now, but you’ll probably want to look through and find stuff you like to wear online, and JARVIS will get it for you,” Tony said. “As for food, there are always groceries stocked in the communal floor kitchen where we just were, and often the team will eat at least one meal a day together, which you are welcome to join. You can also tell JARVIS to add anything you want to the grocery list, so you can stock the kitchenette here in your rooms if you don’t feel like venturing out.” Tony hummed, thinking about what else he needed to talk about as Winter stood and listened attentively. Tony figured this may be a longer discussion than he wanted to have standing in the middle of Winter’s living room, so he gestured toward the small assortment of armchairs in the corner.

“Do you mind if we sit? There are a few more things I’d like to go over,” Tony inquired. Winter looked as if he wasn’t sure why Tony had bothered asking him, but he nodded after a moment and sat on one of the chairs facing the door with the back to the wall. Tony sat in a cozy blue chair across from him before continuing.

“Alright, so I’m not trying to keep you prisoner here or take your choices away, but there are rules to follow in the tower,” Tony said seriously. He paused, but Winter just stared, waiting for him to continue.

“Right, I’ll take that as agreement. First rule! Do not attack, kill, or maim anyone living in the tower, okay? That’s the most important one. Do you understand?” Tony asked, trying to emphasize that it was essential to follow this one if nothing else. Winter’s brow furrowed, before evening out.

“No one who lives in the tower. Understood. Intruders and those not living in the tower aren’t included right?” Winter said hopefully. Tony sighed, thinking that this was probably not a good sign. Did Winter like violence and was disappointed to be cut off? Or was there a reason Tony just wasn’t thinking of why the assassin would not want to be banned from hurting people in general?

“Can I ask why that would matter? What if the rules don’t explicitly forbid you from hurting people outside the tower? Does that mean you would?” Tony asked carefully, trying to sound neutral and non-judgmental. Winter looked uncertain a moment before shrugging.

“I would not attack at random. But, fighting is what I’m good at. It’s what I’m made for. I want to,” was his reply. Shit, that wasn’t what Tony had hoped to hear at all. Not even a little. Was that mentality born from his Hydra days, or did Bucky Barnes feel that way too? Tony didn’t know, but he wasn’t sure it mattered. Whatever the reason for it may be, the fact is that he feels that way now, and it may be hard to curb that sort of thinking. 

“I thought you left Hydra because you didn’t want to kill for them anymore,” Tony asked, confused. Winter’s face did something complicated that Tony couldn’t decipher before smoothing into blankness once more.

“It said in your file that you were captured by terrorists in Afghanistan. They wanted you to build something for them, and they hurt you,” Winter said, surprising Tony with the unexpected shift in topic. Tony grimaced, he didn’t really want to talk about this. He guessed it was fair though, he had brought up Hydra first, and they had been worse to Winter than the Ten Rings terrorist group had been to him. Tony nodded at Winter.

“You didn’t want to build for them though. You wanted to be away from them because they hurt you and tried to force you,” Winter continued.

“Right,” Tony affirmed, not sure where the man was going with this line of conversation.

“You love building things though, engineering is what you are good at and what makes you happy. Just because you didn’t want to be controlled by that group and do it for them doesn’t mean you don’t like doing it in general,” Winter said with an earnest look that made him seem younger, and oh, Tony saw where he was going with this now.

“And just because you don’t want to be with Hydra and kill or fight for them doesn’t mean you don’t like to fight? Yeah, alright, I see what you’re saying big guy,” Tony muttered. He did understand unfortunately, and it made sense that someone who had spent so many years living and breathing violence would find it hard to walk away. If he thought about it, successfully completing a mission by hurting or killing whoever he was supposed to was probably the only time in Winter’s life with Hydra when he wasn’t hurt by them. That kind of powerful subconscious reinforcement wasn’t easy to disregard. Plus, with all the years of captivity, isolation, and mindwipes, Winter didn’t really have any skills or hobbies besides fighting. It made sense to take comfort and pride in what you know and what you are good at. Tony drooped a little in his seat. What a mess. Winter was looking lighter around the brow and his eyes were slightly crinkled, he seemed pleased that he had gotten his point across. Well, Tony was glad at least one of them was happy.

“Look, even if I get it, I can’t let you go around fighting and assassinating people. That isn’t good guy behavior, you know? The Avengers tend to frown upon that sort of thing,” Tony tried explaining. Winter immediately lost his lighter expression, and he looked confused.

“The Avengers do fight and kill though?” Winter said questioningly, hesitant to directly state something that contradicted Tony’s statement. “That is almost exclusively what the Avengers do.” The poor guy really sounded bewildered by Tony claiming otherwise. Tony was somewhat thrown by that logic. Well, he guessed that technically, if you looked at it a certain way, it could be said that the job of the Avengers was to show up, fight, and often kill whoever or whatever they came for, but…

“Those are bad guys though,” Tony said lamely. Winter looked like he didn’t really see the distinction but nodded seriously anyway.

“Then I will also only kill bad guys,” he said, seeming happy to have found a solution. Tony just blanked mentally. Steve was going to kill him. Maybe he should have let Steve or someone else on the team handle this conversation after all. Maybe they would have had a better answer than, ‘but it’s bad guys’. Which seemed to have given Winter the impression that it was fine to kill bad guys? He wasn’t sure how to refute that without sounding like a hypocrite though, since well, the Avengers, and he himself, did in fact kill bad guys on their missions. Especially Hydra goons. Because screw Hydra.

“We do it on missions though, not just when we want to,” Tony tried weakly. Winter nodded, and Tony felt hope for a split second before Winter kept speaking.

“I will go on missions then,” he said agreeably. Tony wanted to smack himself. He was doing this all wrong. But now Winter looked lowkey like an excited puppy, if puppies got excited about killing people, and Tony couldn’t bear to kill his hope. He’d let Steve crush the hopes and dreams of his best buddy, he thought nastily. It wasn’t his job to impart the bad news that there was almost zero chance Winter would be allowed on missions, at least until he had recovered, gotten extensive therapy, and been cleared by a psychologist.

“Just…for now let’s focus on fixing your arm and making you feel like a person again,” he gave up and switched subjects. “Is there anything we should know about you since you’ll be living here? Certain actions or things to avoid doing so we don’t set you off or upset you?” There was a long pause and Tony almost thought Winter wasn’t going to answer before he finally spoke gruffly, with Russian heavy in his accent once more.

“I am fine. My discipline is excellent, I will not freak out,” he said unconvincingly. “There is something that may be important to know though,” Winter added, seeming reluctant.

“Sounds ominous. What is it?” Tony asked cautiously, expecting to hear something he wasn’t going to like. Winter seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, before spitting out with fear in his eyes, “there are trigger words.” Trigger words? What the hell? Tony hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it meant, but his genius mind was already racing toward unfavorable conclusions. 

“What does that mean exactly?” he asked, needing to be sure.

“There is a set of ten words, that if someone says in order, completely overrides my mind and turns me compliant. I will do whatever I am told, then,” Winter said, sounding subdued. Tony cursed angrily in his mind, but pushed down the anger, trying to keep his face from scaring Winter. Every time he thought he couldn’t hate Hydra any more, they proved him wrong. 

“That…isn’t good,” he said uselessly, for lack of anything better to say. “I’m sorry all this happened to you man.” Winter just shrugged slightly like it didn’t matter, but the tense lines of his body betrayed his agitation. 

“Who knows the words? How many people? Are they likely to come after you with them?” Tony asked. This was important for the team to know, that Winter could be overridden to turn on them at any time.

“All my past handlers, and they may have given the words to more agents in order to bring me in. They will come after me, and use them if they can,” Winter said blankly. Right. Winter would definitely not be joining them on the field for missions then, at least as long as the triggers existed. His mind started racing furiously through options and possibilities for ways to remove or nullify the triggers. He had been starting preliminary brainstorming on a device that would work with the mind to help with PTSD, maybe it could be modified? His musing was interrupted by JARVIS.

“Sir, the team will be arriving shortly. Would you like me to direct them anywhere in particular once they do?” he asked politely. Fantastic, now he wouldn’t have to deal with this train wreck by himself! 

“Yeah J, tell them to head for the living room on the common floor. I’ll meet them there,” he instructed distractedly. Winter stood as Tony did, seeming to loosen into a graceful prowl as he walked toward the door. It made Winter seem predatory, and he realized it may be better to meet the team without Winter around first to explain a little. 

“Winter, actually, can you wait here while I meet with the team for a bit? JARVIS will let you know when to join us,” Tony said, and it was clearly a command, even phrased as a request. Winter just nodded obediently and backtracked, dropping back into his chair. Tony waved goodbye and headed for the common floor, nervous about what to tell the team. He groaned, exhausted. He knew it had only been a couple hours since Winter showed up, but it felt much longer than that, and he had been pretty tired to start with. It had been an emotional rollercoaster if nothing else. Coffee, he needed coffee before the team arrived, he thought, and set off to make some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This chapter was a little shorter, but I thought it was a good cut-off point before the rest of the team gets there. I am really pretty much just experimenting with the writing of this fic and discovering my writing style, so any suggestions or constructive criticism is totally welcome. I'd like feedback on the dynamics you want to see between the team and between Tony and Winter too! I am kind of tempted to have Winter end up deciding (after Tony tells him that punishment and correction was a Hydra thing, and therefore not something he was going to do) that with the remaining relationship traits he's looking for in his 'person' version of a handler, and after he consults the internet, that obviously Tony is his Sugar Daddy. I think it would be funny, but I don't know whether to take his story in a more lighthearted direction or a more serious one. Or both? It can still be serious with Winter temporarily convinced Tony is meant to be his Sugar Daddy after all.... I don't know, anyway, let me know what you think please!


	6. Chapter 6

Tony sat slumped against the back of his favorite armchair as he waited not so patiently.

It belatedly occurred to Tony that he had only gotten as far as explaining rule number one of living in the tower before they’d gotten sidetracked.

Well, he hedged mentally, that one was the most important one anyway. He’d get to telling Winter about the others eventually.

Although, had he actually even finished with rule number one? He couldn’t remember if he had clarified that people who didn’t live in the tower were also off limits or not in light of the severely misunderstood conversation that had followed.

Oh well, it was unlikely that the ex-assassin would be allowed to leave the tower for a while anyway. He had been honest with Winter when he said he didn’t want to control him or keep him a prisoner, and so he could offer Winter the choice to leave when it was only him and the team who was aware of him, but once the government found out he was here…

Well, Tony was betting they wouldn’t be okay with the man wandering around at will, so he would probably be fairly restricted and regulated from here on out. It would be the height of foolishness to try to conceal the presence of the Winter Soldier in his tower; it would be discovered sooner or later with how closely he was watched both by the public and the government.

If the team tried to hide him and it was discovered, then they would lose any leverage and power they may had with government officials. Revealing it on their terms and spinning it so it put both the team and the Winter Soldier in a positive light would be their best option.

“The team has arrived and are on route to your location sir,” JARVIS warned him. Tony stood up and composed a quick email to be sent to his lawyers and PR team; he would need all hands on deck with this one.

He went to send it before hesitating- he should talk to the team first before he did anything to alert anyone of Winter’s location. Teamwork had slowly but surely been grudgingly beaten into Tony since the formation of the Avengers.

Plus, Steve could be an absolute dumb-ass when it came to his childhood friend, so who knew if he would agree to the more logical approach of going through the government, even if it would allow them to treat his bestie legitimately and legally while they tried to argue for a pardon through the courts. God help him if Steve insisted on hiding the guy from the government though, Tony was not about to get arrested for such a stupid plan.

He was absolutely confident that with his expensive lawyers, personal power as Tony Stark, and the combined political influence of the Avengers team that they could get Sergeant James Barnes legally declared innocent for his crimes as his Winter Soldier. Hell, they even had a good chance of getting him a pretty hefty amount of money from backpay as a long-held prisoner of war. But only if they did this out in the open within the bounds of the law.

Tony was reasonably sure Steve would take his word for it and go with his plan. After all, politics was Tony’s realm of expertise, and he trusted him as his friend. The only issue was if the ex-assassin had issues with his restricted freedom for the duration of his rehabilitation and trial.

Actually, could he really be called an ex-assassin when he pretty much said he still wanted to kill people? Currently-on-hiatus-assassin was a mouthful though.

Tony heard several footsteps and turned his attention to where the team was filing into the living room. They looked a little worse for wear; it would seem that the scouting had turned into skirmishes at some point. No one was really hurt though, thankfully, just tired and scratched up.

Steve was practically vibrating as he moved toward Tony in powerful strides, looking around like he expected Bucky to pop out from behind a couch or something.

“Easy there Cap, Bucky is still here at the tower and totally safe, don’t worry. I just thought it would be better for us to talk before you see him,” Tony said brightly.

He gave quick greetings to the rest of the team minus Sam, who was in DC visiting his family, and accepted their tired hellos in return. Clint flopped onto the couch and Nat gracefully followed him, sticking her feet in Clint’s lap. Thor took a chair nearby, and Bruce just leaned against the wall, looking wary. Steve stood right in front of Tony, looking anxious and jittery and hopeful.

“Did something happen? Did he attack you? He didn’t mean it Tony, he’s not,” Steve’s rush of words was cut off with a sharp gesture from Tony.

“No! He didn’t attack me. Steve, buddy, please sit down and take a deep breath or something, we all need to talk about this without you freaking out over everything I say,” Tony said, exasperated already.

Steve was usually pretty level headed, but the guy had zero chill when it came to Bucky. Steve nodded a little sheepishly, and they both sat down. Clint was staring at the ceiling like he didn’t care, but Nat was watching them with a sharp expression. He knew she had some kind of history with the Winter Soldier, but she had never told them how she knew him.

“Alright,” he said a little dramatically, “I hereby call this meeting to order.” Tony dropped the exaggerated tone and got serious.

“We need to decide what to do about having the Winter Soldier here. He is technically a fugitive, and he needs like, all the therapists. Dude’s issues have issues.” Tony steadfastly ignored the fact that everyone in this room needed a therapist.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s a fugitive, it wasn't his fault, we need to help him. Will you let him stay here? I can take him somewhere else if you don’t want,” Steve was saying hastily before he was once again interrupted by Tony.

“I’m not kicking you guys out Steve,” he sighed, “I was just saying that we need a game plan. I think it would be best to put this all out in the open and do this legally.” Tony quickly gave a summary of his plan, and carefully watched the reactions of his teammates.

Natasha’s face was too hard to read (god now there were two of them), but Clint and Bruce looked approving of going the legal route. Thor looked like he didn’t care either way; he never did place much importance on Midgardian governments and laws. Steve, who he had been worried would be a hard sell looked hesitant.

“Are you sure we’ll be able to get him pardoned? If we can, that _would_ be much better than having to hide all his life,” Steve said uncertainly. Tony nodded with absolute confidence.

“For sure. Plus, if it comes down to it and we fail to get him pardoned, we can always break him out and do the go into hiding thing later. It’s never too late to become a fugitive from the law,” he joked. Steve looked like he wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, but he nodded anyway.

“Okay, we’ll do it your way Tony. Can we see Bucky now?” Steve asked as he started to stand back up. Tony shook his head and motioned him back down.

“No, we still need to talk about some things before you meet him. First, he doesn’t go by Bucky. He didn’t know any name besides Asset so I’ve just been calling him Winter, short for Winter Soldier, and he seems fine with it,” Tony explained awkwardly. Steve frowned at that, but sat back down before he spoke.

“His name is Bucky though,” Steve said uncertainly, “or James I guess. I know he doesn’t remember, but maybe it would help him remember to call him by name.”

Tony shrugged, and said, “You can call him whatever you want Cap. It’s just that he didn’t recognize or respond to his actual name, so good luck. And I know Winter may not be the best name, but it’s just a nickname for until he either remembers enough to use his old name or he picks a new one. It should be his choice what he goes by. Plus, when I was talking about his past as a person, stuff like that he had a mother and birthday, he kind of freaked out or got a migraine or something, I don’t know. My point is, we may want to wait for professional help and advice before we start trying to dig up memories.”

Bruce shifted from his place by the wall and cleared his throat. “I’m not an expert or anything, because I’m not that kind of doctor, but I know a little about the brain and amnesia. It’s better to let the person suffering the memory loss regain the memories on their own, at their own pace than to tell them things,” Bruce offered his opinion. He may not be that kind of doctor but they all trusted his opinion on the subject. Steve seemed to droop a little, but he nodded in agreement.

“I’ll try to call him Winter then, at least for now. Hopefully being around me will knock some memories loose naturally,” Steve said, ever the optimist. Tony had a feeling that this wasn’t going to play out exactly how Steve wished it would, but he hoped Steve would do his best by his friend, even if that meant treating him as a new person.

“Has he made any threatening moves? How exactly are we planning to keep him here? He’s dangerous,” Nat finally spoke up. Tony answered her before Steve could get worked up again.

“He hasn’t tried to hurt me at all, and he came here voluntarily. I mean, he was pushed into it by Hydra hunting him and his arm being busted, but we don’t need to worry about him trying to leave I don’t think,” Tony told them. Nat narrowed her eyes and sat up on the couch, knocking Clint with her feet as she did.

Ignoring Clint’s yelp of protest, she stared at Tony and said dangerously, “And why would that be?” Running his suddenly sweaty palms over the legs of his pants, Tony answered tentatively, “Because he decided I’m his handler now.”

There was an immediate barrage of voices as everyone tried to speak at once. Tony winced at the influx of sound and stood, waving his hands like he was trying to placate a wild animal. “Hey!” he shouted, and once the room was quiet Steve took point in questioning.

“What do you mean by that? Why would he make you his handler? He doesn’t need a handler, he’s a free and independent person,” Steve said, on the verge of anger.

Tony stifled his own rising anger and answered harshly, “I have no idea why he picked me, okay? If you want to know, then ask him. He might even answer. But good luck telling him he doesn’t need a handler! He was basically just daring me to argue with him, and he’s freaking intimidating alright?!”

Steve looked regretful after his outburst and said softly, “I’m sorry Tony, I wasn’t trying to accuse you or anything, I’m just…this situation, and Hydra, it’s all so messed up, I’m just angry.” Steve sounded so defeated that Tony’s anger drained away.

He got it, really he did. He couldn’t imagine being in Steve’s position. If he had thought Rhodey was dead, and then he turned back up…well, there wasn’t a lot he wouldn’t do for Rhodey. 

“I know Steve, it’s fine. Anyway, my point was that he said he wouldn’t hurt me and that he’d listen to me. He said he would stay here too, and I believe him. He, uh, takes the ‘doing what the handler wants’ thing pretty seriously. Also, pro tip, do not under any circumstances suggest Winter isn’t useful or doing anything for us around here,” Tony warned them.

“Oh, and don’t talk about wanting anyone dead near him, even as a joke. His offer of repayment for staying here included being my personal assassin, so he’d probably take that seriously and go do it,” he added. The team exchanged varying looks of unease and disbelief at his casual proclamation.

“He doesn’t sound particularly safe to be around,” Clint said cautiously.

Tony just shrugged, “I mean he kinda oozes murder vibes, but I told him not to attack, kill, or maim anyone living in the tower, so you guys should be fine.”

Now Tony was the one getting looks of disbelief, except from Thor who said trustingly, “it is good our new shield-brother will not attack us!” Steve was looking like a kicked puppy now, and Tony fought the urge to pat his head and tell him it would be okay.

Let’s see, thought Tony, what else did they need to know before they met him?

“Maybe don’t mention doctors, or labs, or experiments, or basically any type of torture. And get in his personal space at your own risk. Uh, what else? He’s playing a little loose with morals right now, so watch out for that,” he finished.

Steve looked even sadder at the mention of all the things that would set Winter off, and he was so preoccupied Tony wasn’t sure he had even heard the last couple sentences. Bruce was the one to raise his eyebrow and question, “and what does that mean, exactly?”

“He may or may not have spent the last month stalking people and breaking and entering houses to use their shower and possibly steal crap,” Tony hedged. Well, Steve had definitely heard him that time, and he looked a little scandalized.

“Why would he do that?” Steve asked, eyes wide.

“He was trying to learn what he needed to know to blend in with people. Stuff like brushing his teeth, and how to shower. Everyday routine things that he didn’t know because of Hydra,” Tony explained with a sympathetic pat to Steve’s shoulder since he was back to just looking sad on his friend’s behalf.

“Well, what that says about his morals aside, stuff like that can be corrected easy enough. Even if he doesn’t care what’s right or wrong he’ll follow directions not to steal or enter our private space since his handler told him not to right? If he is following the tower rules for Tony then we have nothing to worry about,” Clint said.

Yikes, Tony definitely wasn’t going to mention he hadn’t gotten that far with the rules yet. He’d do it later.

Nat looked skeptical and said, “if we are going to help him, then won’t the point be to make him think less like an asset that has to obey and more like a person who doesn’t have a handler? If we have a person running around that doesn’t care if what they are doing is wrong, we are going to have problems. He won’t obey forever, especially once he realizes we won’t punish him like Hydra would.”

Well, that was a good point. If they kept telling him he didn’t have to obey anyone, but failed to impress the importance of morals or laws on him, then wouldn’t he just run wild? Especially since he liked violence and still wanted to fight?

Shit, he hadn’t even gotten around to mentioning that to the team yet. Should he? What if they wanted to lock him up in his rooms or something if he told them though? But Tony needed to tell the team, because Winter was currently under the impression that he could go on missions to kill bad guys.

That wasn’t gonna happen, at least not right now, and someone needed to set him straight. Someone who wasn’t Tony. Realizing he had zoned out and missed some of the teams discussion, he waited for there to be a pause in speaking and regained their attention.

“There is one more thing. Oh wait, the triggers! Damn, I knew I forgot something. Okay, two more important things,” Tony announced. He took in the various expressions and imagined his own grimace wasn’t much different.

“Triggers?” Nat broke in sharply, eyes demanding an explanation.

“Hydra somehow made it so that if a certain set of ten words are said in order, it erases Winter’s will and makes him do whatever they tell him,” Tony said gravely. Steve looked sick, and Clint was tense and staring off to the side, probably remembering his own stint of lacking will and following orders he didn’t want to follow with Loki.

“I’m going to need your help dealing with that Brucie-bear,” Tony said, catching Bruce’s eye. He got a troubled nod in return.

“I almost hate to ask, but you said there were two more things, so what is the last issue?” Nat inquired dryly. Attention once again refocused on Tony and he sighed.

“This may be slightly my fault,” he said, drawing out the word may, “but Winter wants to go on missions with us to kill bad guys.” Steve looked uncharacteristically hesitant, so Tony prodded him.

“I wouldn’t mind having him at my back again, I missed that,” Steve admitted. “But I know that would be irresponsible. We can’t take him out on the field until he’s been cleared.” Tony was glad to see that reason could prevail over emotion for Cap when it came to his friend.

“Why is that possibly your fault? Did you make him think you wanted him to as his handler?” Thor asked disapprovingly. Tony shook his head, deciding how to phrase what he needed to say next.

“Winter has been fighting in one form or another almost his whole life. Finishing fights Steve started as a little guy in Brooklyn, sniping and killing with the Howling Commandos in the army, the assassinations and jobs for Hydra…he always known violence, and he has a taste for it, now. He doesn’t want to leave it behind,” Tony attempted to explain in a way that made sense.

“I was trying to convince him he couldn’t just kill people anymore, but he kind of outmaneuvered me and ended up deciding that the answer to his desire to keep fighting was Avengers missions. I’m relatively sure I got the point across that good guys are off limits at least.”

Clint looked thoughtful, then said, “it’s the same for us, kind of. Nat and I used to be spies and assassins, and Thor and Steve have fought in wars that killed men. Tony, no offence, was involved in making weapons that racked up a kill count and went after people who had his weapons. And the Hulk…” Clint trailed off awkwardly for a second before moving on, “anyway, death is a part of all of our pasts, and it’s part of the reason we all fight the good fight with the Avengers now, right? To atone? Or just because that's all we know, and we want to use the skillset for something good? I don’t know, but if the Winter Soldier ended up fighting with us, he wouldn’t be out of place, is all I’m saying.”

Huh, that was surprisingly serious and well said, for birdbrain anyway.

“That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t address the fact that it seems like Winter just wants to fight. Everyone here does have a past like you said, but they are trying to do good now because they want to _be_ good, or something near to it. From what Tony said, it doesn’t sound like Winter cares who’s on the other side of the fight. If the only reason people besides ‘bad guys’ are off limits is because Tony said so, then that _isn’t the same_ as the people on this team, not at all,” Bruce said surprisingly passionately.

That…was also a good point.

“Bucky wouldn’t hurt innocent people,” Steve said as he finally broke his silence. “He may not be Bucky at the moment, but I believe that his base nature hasn’t changed. Right now he’s still fresh from Hydra, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. We can teach him to care, he’s not a sociopath.” Nat looked like she didn’t believe that, but Tony didn’t necessarily disagree with Steve.

Winter as he was right now wasn’t really a person yet, and he didn’t have the values and empathy of a person, so he didn’t care about right or wrong. But, he was trying to be a person, and Tony didn’t think he was inherently bad. While Tony didn’t think Winter was exactly picky with targets, hadn’t he said he wouldn’t hurt innocent people? But was that said because he knew as a hero Tony didn’t want him to, or because he felt that way personally?

Plus, who knew what Winter classified as ‘innocent’, his standards after Hydra were probably way skewed. But Winter hadn’t hurt anyone while he was on the run except Hydra agents, and if he truly didn’t care about morality or murdering possibly decent people at all, then he could have just broken in houses and killed the homeowners instead of waiting for them to leave to break in.

Of course, that could be because a bunch of suspicious deaths could bring attention to Winter, which he wouldn’t want when he was trying to lay low. Ugh, Tony was thinking in circles and it was giving him a headache.

“Look, does it really matter for now? Winter will be stuck in the tower for a long while anyway, so it’s not like he’ll be out killing people. We have time to worry about this further down the line. We can see later on as Winter recovers whether this will be something we need to worry about,” Tony huffed, eager to end this stressful meeting. The team conceded the point and agreed to shelve the issue for now.

Thor clapped Steve on the shoulder and said eagerly, “is it time now to let us meet him?” Steve turned a hopeful look Tony’s way. Nat looked like she’d be fine never meeting him, and Bruce looked like he was debating just leaving the room before Winter came. Tony didn’t think meeting Winter would stress Bruce out enough to Hulk out, but it was up to Bruce to decide to stay or not. Clint looked a little excited to see Winter, and he wondered if hero worship or having an idol was a thing with assassins like it was in sports.

“Yep, pretty sure that’s all the info I had to share. J, can you ask him to come down?” Tony instructed JARVIS.

“Shouldn’t someone escort him? Are you sure it’s fine to just give him free range of the tower?” Bruce asked uneasily. Looks like he decided to stay and meet Winter after all.

“Nah, it’s fine. J is keeping a close eye on him and would tell us if Winter did anything or went anywhere he wasn’t supposed to,” Tony said easily, waving off his concern. Steve stood up and started pacing, so Tony went to stand beside him and bumped his shoulder gently in support. With a grateful smile, Steve turned to stare at the door, waiting for the Winter Soldier to walk through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure about this chapter, it's really difficult to have a dynamic conversation with so many people. The dialogue kind of got away from me too, but the discussions needed to happen I think. Next chapter we will have Winter back, and maybe some of his POV. The fic will also really start to get moving the next couple chapters as we move beyond this one night too haha. I love comments so feel free to give feedback or constructive criticism. I think as a writer, since I have a whole idea of what the characters and the plot that I am writing is supposed to be that it colors how I read my own work. Like, I may think a scene has a certain vibe or that i've gotten a certain idea or feeling across, but readers who don't know what I was going for may see it completely differently. Does that make sense?


	7. Chapter 7

It only took a few minutes for Winter to appear in the doorway. His expression was guarded and assessing as he took in the inhabitants of the room, taking note of all the potential combatants. Towards the end of his glancing sweep of the room, Winter's eyes hesitated briefly on Steve, before stopping on Tony and staying there. 

He looked every inch the Winter Soldier of legend at the moment. His posture and face radiated danger, and his body was held loose and ready for action with his bad arm tucked in against his side. Honestly, he looked like he was preparing to take out everyone in the room. 

Tony took a quick peek at the team and realized they had all tensed and shifted positions as if getting ready to fight. He kind of wished he had mentioned Winter’s resting murder face and told the team not to be alarmed; Winter probably wasn’t actually planning to kill them, his face just almost always looked like that. He should probably break this tension before someone actually jumped the gun and attacked or something.

“Thanks for joining us Winter, I wanted to introduce you to the team!” Tony said jovially while moving to stand at Winter’s side. Tony ignored Steve’s aborted attempt to stop him from getting closer to Winter, hoping that the team would calm down when they saw he was safe(ish) next to him. 

Although Winter was absolutely dangerous, he had also seemed vulnerable somehow during his interactions with Tony that night. His gut instinct said he could trust Winter not to hurt him, and maybe that was rash after only knowing him a couple hours, but Tony trusted his gut. Plus, if they were going to help the man, trust had to start somewhere. 

As Tony reached Winter’s side and turned to face the team, the assassin shifted to position himself at Tony’s right shoulder like a bodyguard. Ignoring that, Tony pointed at each member of the team and introduced everyone, even though Winter had probably read files on all of them and knew exactly who they were. It was just polite to introduce everyone anyway. 

“and this is the Winter Soldier, he can be called Winter for short. He will be staying with us here at the tower. Any questions?” Tony said, finishing his introductions with the assassin. Winter said nothing, and just continued eying the team suspiciously. The team also said nothing, eyeing Winter suspiciously in return. Well, the team except for Steve, who was gazing at the man with wet eyes and a face that said he hadn’t really processed the return of his friend yet. Awesome, he could tell everyone would get along splendidly. As Steve regained his composure, he was the first one to speak to Winter.

“Hey,” he said extremely softly, as if trying not to spook an animal. “I know you don’t remember, but we used to know each other. It’s fine if you don’t remember,” Steve threw in hastily at Tony’s warning look, “but I would like the chance to get to know you again.” Well, Tony mused, that wasn’t the worst attempt at sensitive communication he’d ever seen from Steve. A good start, but he hoped Steve would continue respecting Winter’s lack of Bucky-ness even if he didn’t start remembering or recovering the way he wanted. 

Winter stared at Steve for an awkwardly long time without speaking, then his brow lowered slightly as he turned to look at Tony uncertainly, as if he wasn’t sure what to do or how to respond. Tony wondered why he was looking at him. Did he want permission to speak or something? Or permission to hang out with Steve? Or permission to tell Steve to go jump off a bridge? Maybe none of that, and he was just waiting for instruction on how to respond? He wished Winter would just use his words, Tony really had a hard time guessing what Winter was thinking. 

“It’s up to you,” Tony said as blanket permission that hopefully worked for whatever Winter wanted from him. Winter turned back to Steve consideringly and then finally responded.

“Designation: Winter. 5”9’, 260 lbs. Current operational status: active, minor abdominal injury, left arm non-responsive. Active missions: Evade Hydra, become a person,” Winter began reporting before Tony cut him off.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s what Steve meant by getting to know you,” Tony interjected as he saw Steve’s dismayed expression deepen the more Winter talked. The rest of the team just hovered silently in the background like an overly judgmental peanut gallery. 

Winter looked a hint confused but obediently quieted as soon as Tony interrupted him. He grimaced internally, he probably shouldn’t have silenced Winter, he was supposed to be encouraging him to express himself. It was just that Steve looked like he was going to cry or something, and Tony had a strict ‘no dealing with tears’ rule. Oh well, maybe this could be a teaching moment instead. He would just show Winter how it was done, and then Winter could try again and Tony definitely wouldn’t interrupt. 

“A ‘get to know you’ introduction isn’t really a status report buddy, its more like…Hi, my name is Tony. I like coffee and engineering. I dislike paperwork. My hobbies include working in my lab and dressing in a big metal suit to save the world. My goals are world peace and preventing alien invasions. Something like that.” There, like first grade style intros, that’s easy enough. “Now you,” Tony said nodding toward Winter and his serious expression of concentration as he listened to Tony’s glib example.

“Здравствуйте,” he began in Russian, paused, then continued in English. “I am called Winter. I have a preference for solid food and being in optimal fighting condition. I dislike being cryogenically frozen. My hobbies include assassination and gun maintenance. My current goals are not belonging to Hydra and remaining with Tony,” Winter intoned slowly, carefully mimicking Tony’s intro. 

Tony seriously considered breaking his promise to himself about not interrupting Winter during that train wreck of a speech. Tony had been terribly mistaken if he had thought this introduction would better than the status report. 

Steve looked downright horrified now, Nat’s expression was grim but distantly sympathetic, Clint looked like he had found a new target to mother-hen, Thor was doing a decent impression of a kicked puppy, and Bruce was staring at the celling taking deep breathes. No one spoke. Clint didn’t even make a comment about how Tony had told Winter to call him by his first name.

After he finished, Winter turned to Tony with an expectant expression like he had after his report about his time on the run. Alright, looks like he needed to think of something about that to praise…

“Good effort,” Tony said unenthusiastically with a fake smile. Luckily, Winter was unskilled with social cues; he seemed to take the compliment at face value, eyes slightly crinkling in satisfaction. His attention turned back to Steve, who he had been introducing himself for. 

Cap managed a pained upturn of his lips in a poor facsimile of a smile.  
“Thank you for telling me about yourself. Do you…know anything about me?” Steve didn’t look like he was very hopeful the assassin would answer positively this time. At least with lowered expectations he wouldn’t be disappointed as often, Tony figured cynically. 

Winter eyed Steve critically and opened his mouth to speak, so Tony quickly said, “I think he is asking about your past with him Winter, not asking about what was in his Hydra file or his weaknesses or whatever you see when you look at someone.” He thought he could actually pick up on what the assassin was thinking for once, and he wanted to spare Steve the disaster of a response he had been about to get. It looked like he had been right about what man had been about to say, because Winter closed his mouth and tilted his head a little. Then he looked at Steve again, but with a gaze that was more thoughtful than assessing. 

After squinting at the patriotic super-soldier for a while, he eventually muttered confusedly, “smaller?” Steve lit up like he had won the lottery, unrestrained excitement spilling out of him as he nodded rapidly.

“Yeah! That’s right, I used to be small and sickly when we were young. I became larger when I took the super soldier serum,” Steve said sunnily, thrilled at the evidence that some part of Bucky remembered him. Tony turned to Winter, wanting to make sure remembering hadn’t hurt his head like before, but then he noticed the unnatural spasms of the metal arm. 

“Does your arm hurt when it does that?” Tony inquired, interrupting whatever moment Steve was having and pointing out the motion of the arm. Winter glanced down as if to see what it was doing before answering.

“Mild pain, not debilitating to my operation,” Winter awkwardly tried reassuring Tony. Tony was concerned, had that been hurting all night? Maybe it was better to head to the lab now and put off team bonding for another time. But hey, progress! At least Winter admitted there was pain, and he didn’t claim it didn’t matter this time. Although, Tony suspected that Winter’s definition of mild pain and Tony’s definition of mild pain weren’t even on the same scale, so he wasn't very reassured.

Tony looked back at the team and said, yawning, “I’m going to take Winter down to the workshop to work on the arm. After that I’m going to sleep, because i'm exhausted. If anyone needs me, just wait until tomorrow.” Tony took off toward the elevator with a backwards wave goodbye to the team. Winter followed Tony and didn’t seem to be overly stressed, so he hoped calling his space a workshop instead of a lab would keep Winter from having a bad reaction when they went to work on the arm.

Winter POV

As he followed Tony, Winter contemplated the fuzzy memory of the much smaller version of Steve Rogers that had briefly surfaced before vanishing again. His head was aching fiercely, and he resisted the urge to rub his forehead with his hand. Although it was unlikely he would be punished for doing so, he had strict behavioral standards to maintain as not to embarrass himself in front of Tony. He was a professional after all. 

Actually, was he a professional? If so, a professional in what? Being the asset he wasn’t supposed to be anymore? Winter dismissed the irrelevant and confusing thoughts, focusing on memorizing the way to Tony’s workshop. According to his introduction, the smaller man often worked on engineering in the workshop, so he would probably be there a lot, and Winter would need to be able to reach there quickly in case of emergency. 

Tony was chattering they walked, and Winter devoted some attention to carefully listening and noting any new information or clues about how to behave. Winter was an incredible multitasker, a skill he had learned from necessity in Hydra, so he was also reviewing the files he had memorized for every member of the Avengers. He compared them against what he had observed from seeing them in person, and then created as many viable strategies as he could think of for defeating them. 

He had been a little concerned about meeting with them all at once; he judged that he would be unable to defeat multiple Avengers in combat in his current condition. Even down an arm he could handle one, and possibly two depending on which team members he was facing, but not five; especially if the Hulk got involved.

It had put him on edge to be in a situation with his handler where he was not confident in his ability to protect him if something happened, but it wasn’t his place to tell Tony what to do. He could only do his best to give Tony time to get away if they were attacked. He wasn’t used to feeling outmatched, and he didn’t like it, he thought with vexation. The fact that the Avengers were teammates to Tony was irrelevant to their level of threat to him. 

In Hydra it was common for teammates to betray one another; he wouldn't become complacent just because Tony trusted the Avengers. He would be cautious enough for them both to make up for his overly innocent handl…person. Tony should be on guard against betrayal by trusted people by now with how many times it had happened, most recently by his Godfather Obadiah Stane, but he was still so trusting with those he let close.

It was troubling, and he was surprised Tony had managed to live this long without Winter to watch over him. Tony was lucky he was here, Winter thought. He would protect his idealistic charge. Winter was happy that Tony didn’t already have bodyguards though, it would have been a hassle to dispose of them without incurring suspicion. 

Tony POV

As they reached the workshop, Tony ceased the excited chatter he had kept up on the walk here while thinking about the arm. He was thrilled with the opportunity to work with such a sophisticated and incredible piece of engineering. 

Winter was following placidly behind Tony and he was pretty sure Winter had actually been listening to his chatter, which…it was kind of nice, to be listened to. He loved Pepper and Rhodey, and he cared a lot about the Avengers who were becoming his family, but people had a tendency to tune Tony out when he really got going. He understood, but it was still nice to have someone listen attentively to even the unimportant things Tony talked about. 

As they entered, he asked JARVIS to turn on some calming music, and set about preparing a workstation where he could examine the arm in depth. Maybe the worn but well-loved couch would work? He wanted the atmosphere to be as different from Hydra labs as humanly possible. Tony directed Winter to the couch and brought over what he would need before dragging his favorite stool over next to the couch and offering Winter a pillow.

“You can just set the arm here, and I’ll fix you right up! Well, it’ll take a few days to fix the whole thing, but I might be able to deal with the pain it’s causing you tonight anyway,” Tony said cheerfully, fully committed to making this a non-traumatic experience. “If you want me to stop for any reason just let me know alright? We can take this as slow as you want.” Winter nodded but didn’t reply, and the lack of explicit consent troubled him.

Wanting to be absolutely sure this was what Winter wanted, Tony said, “Do you want this worked on right now? You know I won’t touch it if you aren’t cool with it right?” Winter looked at him and seemed to realize what Tony was worried about.

“I would like my arm fixed now,” he quietly affirmed, “and Tony… I am thankful for your effort to do this differently than Hydra.” Tony was unsure how to handle his serious and intense look paired with such an honest expression of thanks. The team appreciated when he did them favors or made or improved a gadget for them, but ‘hey Tony, thanks for the exploding arrows, they’re wicked cool’ was miles apart from such emotionally exposed sentiment that Winter was offering. 

Flushing red, Tony waved away the thanks and decided he definitely wasn’t going to sleep tonight until he had fixed whatever it was in the arm that was causing Winter pain. He wasn’t that tired anyway.

The translation (according to google) for the Russian  
Здравствуйте- hello

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who has commented or left kudos, thank you for your encouragement! I just finished my senior Capstone project and presentation so it has been a hectic and stressful few days, but it always makes me happy to get a notification from this fic :)


	8. Chapter 8

After a very late night where he had managed to finally identify and fix the pain issue in the arm, the very first thing Tony woke up to was JARVIS reminding him to call his PR and legal team. He grudgingly got out of bed and trudged toward the kitchen to start coffee. He’d love to sleep longer but he needed to get on top of the situation immediately to ensure this played out the way they wanted. Tony winced a little at the coming conversation. 

Annalise Rodan, his head lawyer, wasn’t going to be happy with him for this. However, as the head of his legal team, she was well used to bizarre requests and problems from Tony; it was practically the woman’s job description since he had become a superhero. He got sued for the weirdest stuff now. He couldn’t afford to waste time though; he needed to have this conversation, and then go meet with the team and check on Winter, so he dialed as he scarfed down a piece of toast.

After an initial aggravated silence where Tony imagined the lawyer was wishing she could strangle him through the phone, Anna got with the program and promised to deal with it as quickly as possible while collaborating with the PR team. He knew she could get it done; it was why he paid her the big bucks.   
The reason he knew she was so amazing was because she had won in several copyright and legal disputes against him when she worked for his competitor Justin Hammer, and that numbskull had no leg to stand on. The idiot didn't appreciate the gem in his legal department that was Annalise Rodan though, and Tony had celebrated when he had successfully poached her for his own company. She was scary efficient, so he would rest assured knowing this was being handled the absolute best it could be. 

By the time the conversation wound down, he had finished breakfast and was almost through his first cup of coffee. He had JARVIS ask the members of the team to meet up on the common floor and then went to check on his guest before he went to meet everyone. 

After confirming with JARVIS that the man was awake, Tony knocked softly on the door. It didn’t take long for a wary Winter Soldier to open the door, but he calmed when he saw it was just Tony. Winter opened the door wider and stepped back, giving Tony room to enter. Realizing he had thought it may be another member of the Avengers at the door, Tony hastened to reassure him.

“This is my personal floor; it can’t be accessed by anyone else besides me, and now you. If someone does need to come up, JARVIS will warn you first, okay?” Tony said, then realized that was kind of a strange thing to say first thing, and not really an appropriate morning greeting. 

“And good morning?” he added, walking into the room and finding a chair to plop down on.

Yep, he was totally qualified to be teaching someone how to act like a normal person. Winter didn’t seem to mind his behavior though, and seemed pleased with the new information, so Tony figured that was what was important anyway.

Tony realized Winter was still wearing Steve’s spare clothes from the night before and gestured to the drawers that held the man’s new clothing.

“Everything in here is yours, you can wear whatever you want, so you don’t need to keep that on,” he informed him leadingly, hoping the man would get the hint and change. He just glanced down as if he didn’t remember what he was wearing and then nodded, but made no move to change. Tony guessed clothes weren’t very important to him as long as he could move in them. Or maybe he didn’t care about changing because there weren’t any clothes here he liked? He had said JARVIS would get him whatever he wanted from online, but it may be a while before Winter would be up for online shopping. 

“Do you have any preferences for clothes? Colors or styles you’d prefer to wear? I can get some for you delivered today,” he offered. 

Winter blinked at him slowly then obligingly answered, “I prefer clothes that allow a full range of motion.” Looking contemplative for a moment, he added hesitantly, “in orange.”

Completely thrown by the color choice, Tony paused, then raised an eyebrow and questioned curiously, “okay, but why orange?”

Winter looked completely serious as he answered, “Nobody in Hydra wore orange.” 

Well, Tony thought, that sounded accurate. He figured it was a good thing that Winter was making an effort to differentiate himself but…did it have to be with orange clothing? He tried to imagine the solemn man in front of him dressed in various shades of orange and cringed. He had specifically asked what Winter wanted though, and it was progress that he had chosen something for himself in the first place, so he couldn’t ask him to pick something else. Oh well, it wasn’t like it mattered what he wore anyway, and it might be funny to see other people’s reactions.

“Alright,” Tony said cheerfully, smiling as he imagined the faces of the other Avengers when they saw the dangerous assassin decked out in orange looking like a fashion reject. He would just make sure JARVIS got other colors too, and he’d slowly work on the concept of fashion with Winter later. 

Tony herded Winter toward the common room and asked JARVIS to let the team know they were on their way. Winter looked a little tight around the eyes at the announcement and flexed his somewhat repaired arm. Tony wondered if the team made him nervous, or if he thought he was going to have to fight. The arm was only minimally fixed, just enough not to cause pain and allow small movements; definitely not in fighting shape.

“The team won’t hurt you,” he said, trying to come across as reassuring. The glance he received back, if he was interpreting correctly, seemed confused. Had he read the cues wrong then? Had Winter not been thinking about whether he could fight them? 

Tony reminded himself that the only way he would ever know anything with the stoic man would be to simply ask; the man was surprisingly open about answering his questions. For all that he was unemotive, quiet unless spoken to, and had violence wafting off of him, he wasn’t necessarily unfriendly.

“You seem tense,” he offered in explanation to his previous comment, “were you worried about not being able to take them in a fight with your arm like that?” Tony watched as Winter’s eyes subtly narrowed and his mouth downturned minutely as his back straightened even further.

“I am fully capable of defeating the Avengers in combat,” Winter said stiffly. Tony looked at him with wide eyes, the man seemed almost…offended? Had he offended the man by insinuating he couldn’t beat them? He took in the slightly raised chin and eyes flashing with disdain for inferior opponents and wanted to laugh; he looked a little like a proud cat that someone splashed water on. That was kind of adorable. Tony smothered the grin that wanted to surface and nodded seriously. He suddenly had the urge to tease the normally apathetic dark-haired man.

“So if you fought them right now you would win?” Tony asked leadingly, amused and enjoying getting a rise out of him. Winter’s face darkened further and he was silent for a few long seconds before his need to honestly report his condition and chances of success to his handler won over his desire to seem powerful in front of Tony.

“No,” he spat out reluctantly, “my current condition and the reduced function of my arm limits my combat effectiveness to around 60%. I could not currently engage the entire Avengers team with any significant chance of success. I could take one or two at most.”

Tony almost laughed at how frustrated the man seemed, but his amusement died a swift death with the man’s next words.

“Do not worry though Tony, even if I cannot defeat them, I can buy you time to escape before I am decommissioned,” Winter said, eyes earnest. Tony halted dead in his tracks, unable to continue walking as he realized the taller man was completely serious. The ex-assassin was legitimately assuring him that he could buy Tony enough time to escape before he died if the team attacked Tony, as if that was something Tony would want. He felt terrible about making it a joke before. To him, Winter not being able to win against his team meant nothing but a blow to the man’s pride, but to Winter it meant death. 

Tony spun toward Winter, who had stopped walking when Tony did, and said very seriously, “Winter, they are no danger to me. They are my team; you don’t need to protect me from them. Even if something did happen, I don’t want you to use your life to protect mine, okay? I am a superhero in my own right, and I can fight and protect myself. Besides, I wouldn’t just leave you alone to cover my retreat and die.” Winter’s face smoothed to blankness but he didn’t agree with, or even acknowledge, Tony’s declaration. He simply looked back at Tony with a half-lidded gaze.

Tony’s heart skipped a beat and anxiety rose sharply, smothering his chest. He would not let someone die because of him, not ever again. He almost yelled before he remembered who he was dealing with; aggression from a handler would likely not be taken well. Tony took several deep breaths, trying to keep his face neutral and calm. Once he felt like he could talk without shouting he tried again.

“Okay. Let’s get this straight. Why do you think the Avengers are going to hurt me?” 

“People will always hurt you if they can,” Winter stared down at him as he imparted his hard-earned experience.

If Tony had any pieces of his heart left that hadn’t already been smashed to bits by the ex-assassin in front of him in the last 24 hours, this would have finished the job. The man honestly believed that. Even worse, he had drawn this conclusion from years and years of his own experience in Hydra and the underbelly of the world. For someone who had lost this much faith in humanity…it would be difficult for the team to show him there was more to people than betrayal and pain. They had to try though.

Tony’s eyes gentled at he looked up at Winter and said, “I’m going to do my best to show you that not everyone will hurt you.” Winter shifted uncertainly on his feet, looking the most uncomfortable Tony had ever seen him. Tony didn’t want to push him too hard on the emotional front for now, so he merely gestured for him to follow and kept walking. The team was probably wondering where they were by now anyway. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve was the first to get to his feet when they walked in, and everyone else immediately grew quiet and looked towards them as well. 

“Good morning! Another fine day full of sunshine and friendship!” Tony inwardly grimaced as his mouth spewed cheery nonsense to overcompensate for the dark mood the hallway conversation had put him in. Nat raised an eyebrow at his over the top greeting, and everyone else gave him a somewhat baffled look. Tony even caught a slightly strange expression on Winter’s face before it disappeared. He really needed to work on his brain-to-mouth filter.

Steve seemed to recover quickly from the weird atmosphere of the room and approached Winter and Tony, slowing down as the taller man tensed when he got close.

“Good morning Tony, good morning B…Winter,” Steve wheezed out the correction as Clint popped up behind him to elbow him harshly in the ribs as he began to say Bucky. 

Winter took a minute step closer to Tony as if to protect him. Tony sighed and cast his eyes skyward, avoiding Winter’s judgmental eyes that were expressively saying, ‘see! His teammate hit him!’. 

What terrible timing. He also needed to have a talk with the team in private about minimizing inter-team roughhousing. For now, he stubbornly stuck his eyes to the ceiling, ignoring everything else. There was an awkward silence as Winter stood next to him, completely ignoring Steve’s greeting in favor of staring at everyone. Although everyone felt progressively more awkward as the heavy silence continued, Winter didn’t look bothered at all. Maybe he couldn't read the social cues and atmosphere of the room well enough to realize it was awkward in the first place. Lucky him.   
Tony finally took pity on his team and looked at Winter.

“Aren’t you going to respond to him?” Tony asked, a tad too morosely. Winter immediately snapped to attention and faced Steve.

“A good morning?” he mused, “There have been no intruders or incidences of note. Tony is secure.” 

Steve looked startled but smiled supportively, hiding his dismay that Tony had to force him to respond to him.

“Is your arm feeling better today? And how about the cut on your stomach? Has it healed any? Did you eat breakfast?” Steve fretted as he hovered in front of his long-lost best friend. 

Tony felt guilty as he realized that he hadn’t asked about the man’s wound; he hadn’t brought him breakfast either. He was seriously the worst qualified person on the team to take care of someone. He barely took care of himself, and Clint would argue that he got credit for most of Tony’s care anyway. His attention was pulled back to the pair as Winter responded.

“I am fully healed and operational with exception to the reduced arm function. There is no pain. I have not eaten breakfast,” Winter reported matter-of-factly. 

Clint eagerly volunteered to bring food and dashed off to get it, his mother hen tendencies at full throttle. Tony hoped Clint wouldn’t go overboard trying to mother the fearsome assassin that had been dropped on their laps, he didn’t seem like the type that would appreciate it. 

Tony dumped Winter on Steve, instructing him to stay with the excited super-soldier, and headed toward Bruce. He was a little worried at leaving them together, but he needed to talk about removing the triggers with Bruce without Winter being there. He was pretty sure Steve would be on his best behavior, and it might do the ex-assassin some good to be around Steve; maybe he would regain some memories. 

Winter looked like he wanted to follow Tony as he left, but he obediently remained with Steve. The only signs of his discomfort were the tense muscles of his shoulders and the watchful eye that never left Tony, even as he conversed with Bruce all the way across the sizeable room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long gap between this chapter and the last! There has been a lot going on. I struggled with this chapter since it has been a while since i've written. It was difficult to get back into the swing of it, and back into the style of the fic. Is this chapter very different from past ones? I can't tell. Please let me know if you have any constructive criticism or advice!


	9. Chapter 9

Tony slowly crept toward the doorway of the gym where JARVIS had informed him Winter was currently working out. He hadn’t seen the currently orange-clad man as much as he would have liked the last few days, and he wanted to make sure the workout he was doing wasn’t stressing the metal arm.

It had been a whirlwind of a week as seemingly every government agency and the higher government officials swarmed his office. The bombshell reveal of the Winter Soldier’s current residence at his tower had sparked endless meetings full of political warfare, polite smiles hiding daggers, and not so polite smiles that were full of aggression and hostility as Tony and his lawyers fought to get freedom and amnesty for James Barnes. After many, many hours of passive-aggressive bargaining, Tony never wanted to see a politician again. If he did, he just may consider using Winter’s expertise as an assassin. Not to kill anyone of course, but the ability to sneak into places undetected made for a great opportunity to get revenge in creative ways…Tony paused in his slow creep toward the door to grin at the mental image of some of his more imaginative pranks. Maybe if he embarrassed them enough, the politicians would avoid him. Tony silently acknowledged that he couldn’t actually have Winter do anything like that or he’d be arrested, but it was a nice thought regardless.

As for why Tony was sneaking toward the door to spy instead of openly walking in…well, Winter had a habit of exercising in a way that wouldn’t involve the arm when Tony was around, and then looking innocently back at him when Tony questioned why there were signs of stress on the not-yet-repaired prosthetic. This time, Tony was going to catch him in the act!  
Finally reaching the doorway, Tony edged forward and started to peek his head around when he heard approaching footsteps. Jumping back like a startled cat, Tony plastered an innocent look of his own on his face. Steve was walking toward him slowly, looking dubiously at Tony’s sketchy behavior.

“What are you doing Tony?” Steve questioned quietly with a raised eyebrow.

“Uhhh…this…isn’t what it looks like?” Tony responded sheepishly in a soft voice.

Steve halted when he reached Tony’s side and he said, “It looks like you’re sneaking around and trying to spy on Winter.”

After a short pause, Tony chuckled awkwardly. “Aha, well, I guess it is what it looks like then. But it’s the motive that counts! It’s for a good cause,” he declared righteously.

Meanwhile inside the room, as Steve and Tony continued to whisper between themselves in the hallway, a certain not-really-Russian assassin’s lip twitched. He wondered if they remembered he was an enhanced human and could hear everything.

Probably not, considering they were still whisper-fighting about spying on him. He would just pretend not to know, he decided. As far as he was concerned, Tony was welcome to watch him anytime, but it was cute that he thought Winter didn’t notice him. He didn’t mind indulging him in his attempts at subterfuge. He paused his pushups before Tony could catch him using his bad arm and stood to stretch, mentally noting to teach Tony how to move more quietly in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce leaned back in his desk chair and took off his glasses to rub at his tired eyes. While Tony had been dealing with the alphabet soup agencies and the political and media circus that had been raging all week, Bruce had been trying to put together a workable plan for repurposing the technology Tony had previously created. They needed it to be able to remove, disassociate, or neutralize the triggers in Winter’s head. It was a headache and a half because the technology wasn’t originally intended for this purpose, and it wasn’t easy to figure out how using it would affect the amnesiac assassin. The mind was a delicate thing; they couldn’t just go for it and hope for the best.

Bruce was counting on the progress speeding up significantly once Tony was free and able to join him. He knew more about the technology, and he and Bruce working together was much more efficient than the solo work he’d been doing. Of course, being done with the meetings about Winter didn’t mean Tony would have plenty of free time. He still had obligations to Stark Industries, and he needed to work with, and on, Winter himself. He would no doubt be very busy in the coming days, but this was important too, and should get some priority.

Sam still hadn’t returned to the tower, but he’d been briefed on the situation and promised to do what he could to help. He was used to working with military vets and may have useful advice going forward on interacting with Winter. Of course, a lot of his experience wasn’t applicable because of how different Winter’s situation was, but enough of it would apply to make it worth talking to him.

The whole team had pitched in this week on operation Dark, Tall, and Handsome. DTH for short. Tony had named their efforts involving Winter this way in usual Tony fashion and refused to call it anything else, so the rest of them just went along with it.

Natasha, Thor, and Steve were taking turns attending meetings with Tony to help out. Natasha was useful because she had a wicked sense of humor and was very persuasive and threatening in turn. Her experience as a super-spy wasn’t for nothing. As for Steve, his influence as Captain America and personal history with Winter swayed a lot of people to their side who were otherwise indecisive. Thor, lacking knowledge about the American legal system, simply stood in a corner with crossed arms and a raised chin, daring anyone to say something to him.

As for Clint, he cheerfully refused to attend anything resembling a formal meeting, and claimed he wouldn't be useful anyway. He busied himself with taking care of his very overworked and harried teammates. Bruce had forgotten to surface from his lab for food several times as he was immersed in research, and Clint always showed up to deliver food before disappearing again around mealtimes. The members that were stuck in meetings also got timely deliveries of food when they went too long without.

Bruce had a suspicion that Clint knew when they hadn’t eaten because he was hiding and watching the meetings from the vents. For all his claims about meetings being boring and not wanting to go, he was very uneasy about secret agents he wasn’t familiar with being in his territory so close to his people. Tony had assured Clint that they were only there for the meetings and that any person representing an agency with three letters was closely monitored by JARVIS, but there was no deterring Clint when he was fixated on something.

Honestly Bruce thought it was just as well, he wouldn’t put it past some agencies, including SHIELD, to try something underhanded. For this reason, Winter was kept very far away from any visitors and had been repeatedly warned not to interact or mess with them.

Winter had not been pleased at all when he was informed that Tony would be meeting with dangerous people without him, and his menacing glower hadn’t subsided until JARVIS, Natasha, Thor, and Steve had all sworn to protect Tony in his absence. Winter still didn’t trust the team, but backup was better than nothing, and he had taking a liking to JARVIS and trusted the AI at least to watch over Tony.

The genius inventor had flushed and protested that he could protect himself and “does no one remember that I’m a superhero too?” - but Winter was unyielding and his icy eyes and stern look cowed Tony. Bruce was pretty sure Steve’s huge grin hadn’t just been because of Winter’s former-best-friend-status that time.

Whenever it was Natasha or Thor's turn to attend a meeting with Tony, Steve had taken to keeping Winter company. Winter wasn’t exactly accommodating or friendly, but he wasn’t antagonistic or violent toward Steve, who took that as encouragement to spend time with him. Steve had confessed to Bruce that it was reassuring just to be around the silent man, and he was triumphant whenever he managed to coax him into a conversation. They ran together in the gym, and Steve would follow Winter to the kitchen and enthusiastically chatter at him if he was free.

Winter had been obediently reporting to the kitchen on the common floor three times a day for meals even when Tony wasn’t present, and Bruce had occasionally shown up when he was there if he remembered to take a break. They tended to just sit in silence, but Bruce liked the peace and quiet. He didn’t, however, appreciate the scrutinizing stares Winter would level him with from time to time. It made him feel like he was dissecting him with his eyes, looking for weak spots. Bruce tended to retreat back to his lab pretty quickly during those times.

All in all, Bruce would be happy when things calmed down a little. He glanced down at the papers on his desk, sighed, put his glasses on, and got back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feedback and constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks for reading.


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